Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it issues its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and continuous care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to widespread access to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to increase availability, by measures including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
The injections replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may see weight return within a year of halting the medication, as their normal appetite return.
To be carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
