World Health Organization Sounds Alert Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Injections
Less than 10% of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first advice on the therapies.
Considering over a billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and ongoing care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to widespread availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to widen availability, via approaches including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, as their usual hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for contracting medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Obesity concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
