World Health Organization Sounds Warning Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Jabs

Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial guidance on the medications.

Given more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging increased and just access to this class of drugs.

Based on projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"The latest guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, notes the organization.

Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity

Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.

The advice urges governments and firms to increase availability, by strategies such as licensing agreements.

A patent on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.

The Way Obesity Jabs Function

These medications mimick a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase satiety so individuals eat less.

Individuals commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.

Studies indicates people may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the medication, because their normal appetite return.

To be overweight or obese raises your risk for developing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.

Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.