WHO Raises Concern Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Injections
Under one in 10 patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just access to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand availability, through measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds 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 normal appetite return.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for experiencing medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
