WHO Raises Concern Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Jabs

Fewer than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural advice on the drugs.

With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.

Based on estimates, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and ongoing treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, explains the body.

GLP-1 Therapy Shortage

Even in the current most favorable scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.

The advice urges countries and companies to widen access, via strategies including voluntary licensing.

A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.

The Way Obesity Jabs Work

These medications imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so people eat less.

People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.

Studies indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the treatment, when their typical hunger resume.

To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.

Obesity impacts individuals in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.