The Global Health Body Issues Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Obesity Injections
Fewer than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the WHO as it releases its first advice on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the current most optimistic case, the supply of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The recommendation calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, via measures such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
The injections imitate a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
People usually see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence points to patients may see weight return within a year of halting the drug, because their typical hunger resume.
Being overweight or obese increases your likelihood for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
