Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial recommendations on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and lifelong support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to broad access to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to increase access, through measures such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies indicates patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the drug, because their usual appetite resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
