The Global Health Body Raises Alert Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Jabs

Less than 10% of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its first advice on the therapies.

Given over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.

Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"The new guidance affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, says the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis

Even in the present most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.

The guideline urges governments and firms to expand access, through measures including licensing agreements.

Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate

GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost feelings of fullness so individuals consume fewer calories.

Patients commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.

Evidence points to patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the drug, as their typical hunger return.

Being overweight or obese raises your chance for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.