The Global Health Body Sounds Concern Over Acute Lack of Obesity Medications
Less than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it publishes its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the current best projected scenario, the production of such drugs would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to increase availability, by strategies like licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
The injections replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so individuals eat less.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests people may see weight return within a year of halting the medication, when their typical hunger resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Obesity impacts people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.