World Health Organization Raises Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Jabs

Under one in 10 individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first recommendations on the drugs.

With more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.

According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.

"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and continuous treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, says the organization.

Skinny Jab Scarcity

Despite the current best projected outlook, the supply of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.

The advice urges governments and firms to increase access, through measures like patent sharing.

The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.

How Obesity Jabs Operate

These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so users reduce food intake.

People typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.

Research points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their normal food cravings return.

Being carrying excess weight increases your risk for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.