Under 10% of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
Based on projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and continuous treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice urges countries and companies to expand access, through strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals consume fewer calories.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Research suggests users may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the drug, as their typical hunger come back.
To be carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
