Under 10% of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its initial recommendations on the therapies.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the supply of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, via strategies including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
The injections mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
People commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence suggests people may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their usual food cravings resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
