The Global Health Body Issues Warning Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Injections

Under 10% of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial recommendations on the medications.

Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.

Based on projections, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.

"Our latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift significant weight, notes the organization.

Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity

Even under the present best projected case, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.

The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, by strategies including patent sharing.

The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Injections Operate

GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.

Patients typically see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.

Evidence points to people may regain a significant portion within a year of stopping the drug, when their usual food cravings return.

Being overweight or obese raises your chance for developing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.

Obesity concerns people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.