🔗 Share this article World Health Organization Sounds Concern Over Severe Scarcity of Weight-Loss Medications Fewer than a tenth of individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it releases its inaugural advice on the medications. Considering over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication. Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken. "The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and continuous treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization. GLP-1 Therapy Shortage Even under the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization. The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to expand access, through approaches like voluntary licensing. The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026. How Obesity Drugs Function The injections replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so people consume fewer calories. Patients usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs. Evidence suggests patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, when their normal appetite come back. To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers. Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
Fewer than a tenth of individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it releases its inaugural advice on the medications. Considering over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication. Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken. "The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and continuous treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization. GLP-1 Therapy Shortage Even under the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization. The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to expand access, through approaches like voluntary licensing. The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026. How Obesity Drugs Function The injections replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so people consume fewer calories. Patients usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs. Evidence suggests patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, when their normal appetite come back. To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers. Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.