Fewer than one in 10 patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it releases its inaugural advice on the medications.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and ongoing support," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present most optimistic scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The recommendation calls on governments and firms to expand availability, via strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
People typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence points to users may see weight return after a year of stopping the medication, when their typical appetite come back.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight affects individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
