Less than one in 10 patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, states the WHO as it issues its first recommendations on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with thorough and continuous care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Despite the current most optimistic outlook, the production of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice urges governments and firms to expand access, by approaches such as voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, as their normal food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese elevates your risk for developing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
