The Global Health Body Raises Alert Over Critical Scarcity of Obesity Medications

Fewer than a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it issues its first guidance on the therapies.

Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.

Per projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.

"Our latest guidance recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, explains the body.

GLP-1 Therapy Shortage

Even in the present most optimistic outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.

The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen access, by approaches including patent sharing.

A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.

The Way Obesity Jabs Work

GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.

Individuals typically see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.

Research suggests patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the treatment, when their normal food cravings resume.

To be above a healthy weight increases your risk for contracting health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.

Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.