🔗 Share this article WHO Sounds Concern Over Severe Shortage of Weight-Loss Injections Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the therapies. Given more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs. Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention. "Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the agency. GLP-1 Therapy Shortage Despite the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO. The advice encourages countries and companies to increase availability, by measures such as licensing agreements. The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026. How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate The injections imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so users reduce food intake. People typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs. Evidence points to users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual hunger come back. To be carrying excess weight increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies. Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the therapies. Given more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs. Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention. "Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the agency. GLP-1 Therapy Shortage Despite the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO. The advice encourages countries and companies to increase availability, by measures such as licensing agreements. The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026. How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate The injections imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so users reduce food intake. People typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs. Evidence points to users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual hunger come back. To be carrying excess weight increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies. Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.