Fewer than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and lifelong care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to increase availability, via approaches like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research indicates people may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the drug, because their normal appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
