Under one in 10 patients that would benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its initial guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key barriers to widespread access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen access, via approaches including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the medication, because their usual food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for developing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
