The Global Health Body Raises Alert Over Severe Scarcity of Obesity Jabs

Less than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural guidance on the medications.

With more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to this class of drugs.

According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.

"The new guidance affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing support," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to broad access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, says the organization.

Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity

Even in the current most favorable scenario, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.

The advice calls on countries and companies to expand access, through measures such as patent sharing.

A patent on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.

How Obesity Drugs Function

The injections mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.

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

Evidence suggests patients may see weight return a year later of halting the treatment, when their typical food cravings return.

Being overweight or obese raises your risk for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.

Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.