WHO Raises Warning Over Acute Scarcity of Weight-Loss Injections

Less than 10% of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.

Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.

According to forecasts, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"The new guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key barriers to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the body.

Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis

Even in the present best projected case, the production of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.

The guideline urges countries and companies to increase access, by strategies like patent sharing.

The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.

The Way Weight-Loss Injections Function

These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.

Individuals typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.

Studies points to people may see weight return after a year of halting the medication, when their usual hunger resume.

Being above a healthy weight elevates your risk for contracting diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.

Obesity affects people in all nations and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.