World Health Organization Raises Concern Over Acute Shortage of Obesity Injections
Fewer than 10% of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its first advice on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the present most favorable case, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the drug, when their typical food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
