Less than 10% of people who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it issues its initial guidance on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to increase availability, via strategies such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to users may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, because their usual hunger resume.
Being above a healthy weight increases your chance for experiencing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
