Less than a tenth of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key barriers to widespread access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present best projected scenario, the supply of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to expand access, through measures such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical appetite resume.
Being overweight or obese elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
