Less than 10% of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, says the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice urges governments and firms to expand access, through approaches including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence indicates patients may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the drug, because their usual appetite come back.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for developing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
