The Global Health Body Sounds Warning Over Critical Scarcity of Weight-Loss Jabs

Fewer than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.

With over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.

Based on forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.

"The new guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity

Even under the present most optimistic scenario, the production of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.

The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, by strategies such as licensing agreements.

A patent on a key compound – the core component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.

The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work

GLP-1 drugs mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance satiety so users consume fewer calories.

Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.

Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, because their typical hunger come back.

To be carrying excess weight elevates your chance for experiencing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.

Obesity impacts people in every country and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.