Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial guidance on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and lifelong treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad availability to the treatments that can help people shift substantial weight, says the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the current best projected outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on countries and companies to expand access, via measures such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Operate
These medications mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, as their usual food cravings return.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
