The Global Health Body Issues Alert Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications

Less than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.

Given over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.

Based on projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.

"Our new guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to broad access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, explains the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis

Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.

The recommendation urges governments and firms to widen access, via strategies such as licensing agreements.

A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.

How Obesity Drugs Work

These medications mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.

Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.

Studies indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the drug, when their usual hunger return.

To be above a healthy weight raises your risk for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.

Obesity affects individuals in every country and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.