The Global Health Body Raises Warning Over Severe Scarcity of Obesity Injections

Less than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.

Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.

Per estimates, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.

"The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the agency.

GLP-1 Therapy Shortage

Even in the present best projected scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.

The guideline encourages governments and firms to increase availability, by measures such as licensing agreements.

Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.

The Way Weight-Loss Injections Function

These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.

Individuals typically start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.

Evidence suggests people may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the treatment, because their normal hunger come back.

Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.

Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.