Less than 10% of people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial recommendations on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary component of a leading brand – is due to expire in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the medication, because their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for contracting diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
