Under a tenth of patients who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it releases its first guidance on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic scenario, the production of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand access, by approaches including licensing agreements.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to people may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the medication, as their normal food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
