The Global Health Body Raises Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Injections
Under one in 10 people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and ongoing treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even under the present best projected outlook, the production of such drugs would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to expand access, via measures like patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Research points to people may see weight return within a year of halting the medication, because their normal food cravings resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your risk for contracting medical conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
