Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even under the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to widen availability, via approaches including voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users eat less.
Patients commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research points to people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, because their typical hunger resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your risk for developing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity affects people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
