The Global Health Body Raises Warning Over Critical Scarcity of Obesity Medications

Less than 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.

Considering over a billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.

Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.

"Our new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and ongoing care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad access to the treatments that can help people shift significant weight, explains the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis

Despite the present most optimistic outlook, the production of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.

The advice urges governments and firms to expand access, by strategies such as licensing agreements.

Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Injections Operate

These medications replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so users eat less.

Patients usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.

Research suggests patients may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their usual appetite resume.

To be overweight or obese elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.

Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.