WHO Sounds Warning Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Injections

Fewer than 10% of patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.

Given over a billion people worldwide currently obese, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.

According to projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.

"The latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key barriers to broad availability to the treatments that can help people shift significant weight, notes the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity

Despite the current most favorable scenario, the supply of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.

The advice encourages governments and firms to widen access, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.

A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Injections Operate

The injections mimick a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.

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

Research suggests patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the drug, when their typical food cravings return.

Being overweight or obese raises your risk for developing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.

Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.