Less than one in 10 people that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by approaches including patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so users reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the drug, because their normal hunger come back.
Being above a healthy weight raises your chance for developing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
