Less than 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic outlook, the production of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The guideline calls on governments and firms to increase availability, via approaches including patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of a leading brand – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
These medications imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the drug, when their normal food cravings return.
To be carrying excess weight increases your chance for developing health problems, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
