Less than one in 10 individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and lifelong treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to universal access to the jabs that can help people shift significant body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable scenario, the supply of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, through strategies such as licensing agreements.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
These medications imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies suggests users may see weight return within a year of stopping the drug, because their usual food cravings return.
Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for developing diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
