World Health Organization Raises Warning Over Acute Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications
Fewer than one in 10 patients that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it releases its initial guidance on the medications.
With over a billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to widespread availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to widen availability, through strategies including patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence indicates people may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their usual food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for developing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
