Fewer than one in 10 patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it publishes its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the present most optimistic case, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to expand availability, via strategies such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests patients may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the medication, because their usual food cravings resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for developing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.