Fewer than one in 10 patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it issues its first guidance on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key barriers to universal access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even under the present most optimistic outlook, the supply of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The advice calls on countries and companies to increase access, via approaches like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
The injections mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so users reduce food intake.
People typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, because their typical appetite return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
