Fewer than 10% of people that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, states the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the current most optimistic outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through approaches like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
These medications mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
People usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, because their typical food cravings resume.
Being overweight or obese increases your risk for contracting health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
