Less than a tenth of patients who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic case, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals typically start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, when their usual food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
