Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidance recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and continuous support," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to broad access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the supply of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen availability, through approaches like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users eat less.
Patients usually start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests people may see weight return after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual appetite come back.
To be carrying excess weight increases your risk for contracting medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.