Less than one in 10 patients that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and continuous support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, says the body.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen access, through strategies including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
The injections mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance satiety so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, when their normal hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for contracting diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
