World Health Organization Raises Warning Over Critical Scarcity of Obesity Medications
Fewer than a tenth of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the WHO as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to widen availability, via approaches including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the core component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
The injections replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the medication, when their normal hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.