The Global Health Body Raises Warning Over Acute Shortage of Obesity Jabs
Less than one in 10 people that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it releases its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Despite the present most favorable outlook, the supply of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through measures like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Work
These medications mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research indicates users may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, because their typical hunger return.
Being above a healthy weight raises your risk for experiencing health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
