Fewer than a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it releases its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges countries and companies to increase availability, by measures such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Work
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the medication, when their normal hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
