WHO Issues Warning Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications
Less than a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and continuous support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Despite the present most optimistic scenario, the production of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, through measures such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users eat less.
People usually see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates users may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the medication, because their usual hunger return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
