World Health Organization Sounds Concern Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications
Under one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the current most favorable outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The recommendation encourages governments and firms to widen availability, by approaches such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research suggests patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual food cravings return.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for contracting medical conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.