2025-11-04
6 分钟The Economist Hello, this is Alok Jha,
host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.
Welcome to Editors Pics.
We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.
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A new kind of instant gratification is catching on in India.
Urban consumers who have grown accustomed to groceries and gadgets arriving within minutes can now order slimmer waistlines almost as quickly.
Online pharmacies promise same-day delivery of weight loss injections and demand is booming.
In March, Eli Lilly, an American drugmaker, began selling Maljaro, its obesity treatment, in India.
A month's supply costs about $180,
a quarter of the price in America, though still steep for most Indians.
Even so, by September it was the country's second best-selling branded medicine.
Until recently, GLP-1s, a powerful new class of weight loss drugs,
were confined mostly to rich countries.
Yet, the World Obesity Federation, a charity,
reckons that two-thirds of the world's one billion obese adults live in poorer countries.
Excess weight is not merely cosmetic, it raises the risk of diabetes,
heart disease and cancer, and GLP-1s may also treat sleep apnea, kidney disease and Alzheimer's.
For poorer countries,
wider access to these medicines could transform the treatment of chronic illnesses.