WHO Sounds Warning Over Severe Lack of Weight-Loss Medications
Less than 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it releases its first advice on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, explains the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the current best projected outlook, the supply of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, by approaches such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so individuals consume fewer calories.
People commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies points to patients may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, as their usual food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.