The Global Health Body Issues Alert Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications
Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, states the WHO as it releases its first recommendations on the medications.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and lifelong treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift significant weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people β less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand availability, by approaches such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient β the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy β is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research suggests users may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their usual hunger resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in every country and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
