WHO Sounds Alert Over Severe Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications
Under 10% of people that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to projections, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift significant body mass, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to increase availability, through approaches such as licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
The injections imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly see weight reduction after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research indicates people may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the medication, as their normal hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your chance for developing health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
