Less than 10% of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on estimates, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to broad availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, says the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the current most favorable case, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The recommendation encourages governments and firms to widen availability, through approaches such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of a leading brand – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, as their normal appetite come back.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your chance for experiencing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
