WHO Sounds Concern Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Jabs
Less than one in 10 people who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad access to the treatments that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the current best projected case, the production of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to increase availability, through approaches including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Function
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
People typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates people may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the treatment, when their typical food cravings resume.
Being above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for developing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
