World Health Organization Sounds Warning Over Severe Shortage of Weight-Loss Injections

Under one in 10 people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.

With over a billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.

Based on projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"The new guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the organization.

GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis

Even under the current best projected scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.

The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, through measures including licensing agreements.

A patent on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.

How Obesity Jabs Operate

GLP-1 drugs mimick a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so individuals reduce food intake.

Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.

Research indicates users may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the drug, when their normal appetite come back.

Being above a healthy weight increases your risk for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.

Obesity impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.