The Global Health Body Raises Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Obesity Medications
Under one in 10 individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it publishes its initial recommendations on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to universal access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even under the present best projected scenario, the production of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, via measures including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and increase satiety so people reduce food intake.
People commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence points to users may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the drug, when their typical hunger return.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
