WHO Sounds Concern Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications

Under one in 10 patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural advice on the medications.

With over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.

Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.

"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to broad access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the body.

Skinny Jab Supply Crisis

Even in the current best projected case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.

The advice calls on governments and firms to widen availability, through approaches like patent sharing.

Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate

These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals eat less.

Patients usually see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.

Studies indicates patients may see weight return a year later of stopping the medication, when their normal food cravings resume.

Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.

Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.