World Health Organization Issues Alert Over Severe Shortage of Weight-Loss Medications

Less than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.

Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.

Based on forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.

"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the treatments that can help people shift substantial weight, explains the body.

Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis

Despite the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.

The recommendation calls on governments and firms to widen access, through approaches such as voluntary licensing.

Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.

How Obesity Drugs Operate

These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.

Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.

Research suggests patients may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the drug, as their typical food cravings come back.

Being overweight or obese raises your risk for contracting diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.

Obesity impacts individuals in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.