WHO Sounds Warning Over Severe Lack of Weight-Loss Medications
Less than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key barriers to universal access to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the current best projected scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, via strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies indicates patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the drug, because their normal appetite come back.
To be carrying excess weight raises your chance for contracting medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight affects people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.