Under a tenth of patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the WHO as it publishes its initial guidance on the medications.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
According to projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to widespread availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies suggests people may see weight return a year later of halting the drug, as their typical food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity affects people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
