The Global Health Body Issues Alert Over Acute Shortage of Obesity Medications
Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to expand access, via approaches like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Work
The injections mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies suggests users may see weight return within a year of stopping the treatment, because their usual food cravings come back.
To be carrying excess weight increases your risk for contracting diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
