Under one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it releases its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to universal access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Despite the current most optimistic case, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to expand availability, through measures including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
The injections mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
People commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the treatment, when their typical appetite return.
To be overweight or obese raises your risk for experiencing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
