World Health Organization Issues Alert Over Acute Scarcity of Obesity Injections
Fewer than one in 10 individuals who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it publishes its first advice on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the current best projected case, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to increase availability, by measures like patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests patients may see weight return a year later of halting the drug, as their usual hunger come back.
To be above a healthy weight increases your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
