Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial guidance on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen availability, via measures such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people eat less.
Individuals typically see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the treatment, when their typical appetite come back.
To be carrying excess weight raises your chance for contracting medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity affects people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
