Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its initial recommendations on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even in the current best projected scenario, the supply of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to increase access, through strategies like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and boost satiety so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the medication, when their normal food cravings come back.
Being above a healthy weight raises your risk for developing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
