Fewer than one in 10 patients who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its initial guidance on the medications.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present best projected scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through measures like voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main component of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
People usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the medication, because their usual hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your chance for experiencing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
