WHO Sounds Concern Over Severe Lack of Weight-Loss Injections
Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural guidance on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the supply of such drugs would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to widen availability, by approaches including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost satiety so people reduce food intake.
Individuals usually see weight reduction after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to users may see weight return within a year of stopping the medication, as their normal hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for developing medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
