Fewer than 10% of individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, over two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present best projected outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, by strategies like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients typically start to lose weight after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the medication, when their usual hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in every country and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
