WHO Raises Concern Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications
Fewer than 10% of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, via measures like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
The injections mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users eat less.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may regain a significant portion after a year of stopping the medication, as their usual appetite return.
To be overweight or obese raises your chance for developing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
