🔗 Share this article World Health Organization Sounds Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Obesity Medications Fewer than a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial advice on the medications. Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication. Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken. "Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency. Skinny Jab Scarcity Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO. The recommendation urges countries and companies to increase availability, by strategies such as patent sharing. A patent on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026. The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work The injections mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so people eat less. People typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of commencing the regular doses. Evidence suggests users may see weight return after a year of discontinuing the medication, because their typical food cravings return. To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies. Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
Fewer than a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial advice on the medications. Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication. Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken. "Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency. Skinny Jab Scarcity Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO. The recommendation urges countries and companies to increase availability, by strategies such as patent sharing. A patent on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026. The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work The injections mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so people eat less. People typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of commencing the regular doses. Evidence suggests users may see weight return after a year of discontinuing the medication, because their typical food cravings return. To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies. Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.