Less than 10% of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the WHO as it issues its first recommendations on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to widespread access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present best projected outlook, the manufacturing of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline urges governments and firms to widen access, via measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may regain a significant portion after a year of stopping the drug, because their normal appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight increases your risk for developing diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
