Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging increased and just access to this class of drugs.
Per projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous support," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to widespread access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the present best projected scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, by measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Function
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
People typically start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates patients may regain a significant portion after a year of halting the medication, when their usual hunger return.
Being overweight or obese increases your chance for developing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
