Less than one in 10 people who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its first advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous support," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major barriers to widespread access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to increase availability, via measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost satiety so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may see weight return a year later of halting the treatment, when their usual food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity affects people in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
