Less than one in 10 individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.
Given over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and ongoing support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The advice urges countries and companies to widen availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
People typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their usual hunger resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your likelihood for contracting diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
