Less than one in 10 patients who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first advice on the drugs.
Given over a billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current best projected scenario, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to widen access, via approaches such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users eat less.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the medication, when their usual food cravings resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for developing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
