World Health Organization Issues Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications

Fewer than one in 10 people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its initial recommendations on the therapies.

Given over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.

According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.

"The new guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the organization.

Skinny Jab Shortage

Even in the current most optimistic scenario, the supply of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.

The advice encourages governments and firms to expand access, through strategies such as patent sharing.

The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.

The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Function

GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase satiety so users eat less.

Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.

Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the treatment, when their normal food cravings resume.

Being carrying excess weight elevates your risk for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.

Obesity impacts individuals in every country and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.