Less than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Based on projections, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to widespread availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even in the current most optimistic scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The advice calls on countries and companies to expand access, through strategies like voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Individuals usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies points to users may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the drug, as their typical hunger return.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for experiencing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.