WHO Issues Warning Over Acute Shortage of Weight-Loss Injections

Fewer than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its initial advice on the drugs.

Given over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.

Per forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.

"The new guidance recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal access to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the agency.

Skinny Jab Scarcity

Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.

The advice calls on governments and firms to increase availability, via measures such as patent sharing.

A patent on semaglutide – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.

How Weight-Loss Jabs Work

These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.

People commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.

Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the drug, as their typical food cravings return.

To be carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing health problems, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.

Obesity affects people in all nations and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.