Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it issues its first guidance on the medications.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and continuous care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to increase availability, through measures including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates people may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual food cravings come back.
Being above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
