The Global Health Body Raises Concern Over Critical Lack of Weight-Loss Medications

Under 10% of patients who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it publishes its initial advice on the drugs.

Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.

Based on projections, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"Our new guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and ongoing care," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad access to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the organization.

Skinny Jab Scarcity

Despite the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.

The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, via strategies including voluntary licensing.

A patent on semaglutide – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.

The Way Obesity Drugs Function

GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.

People commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.

Evidence suggests patients may see weight return within a year of stopping the treatment, because their normal hunger return.

Being above a healthy weight elevates your risk for developing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.

Excess weight affects individuals in all nations and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.