WHO Sounds Alert Over Severe Lack of Weight-Loss Medications
Fewer than 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial advice on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are key barriers to universal availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, via approaches including voluntary licensing.
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.
The Way Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
People commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research points to users may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the drug, because their typical appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for developing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
