Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key barriers to broad access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, says the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current best projected case, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
The injections imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
Patients typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the drug, when their normal appetite come back.
Being above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
