The Global Health Body Sounds Warning Over Severe Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications

Fewer than a tenth of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it releases its initial recommendations on the medications.

With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently obese, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.

According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.

"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can help people shift substantial weight, says the body.

Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis

Despite the current most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.

The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by measures such as licensing agreements.

A patent on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Jabs Function

These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals eat less.

Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.

Evidence suggests people may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, when their usual hunger resume.

To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.

Excess weight concerns people in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.