Health and economic issues could both benefit from weight-loss jab

The expansion of the new £40m Government pilot scheme to provide access to weight-loss injections is primarily to address health issues, but could also provide notable economic benefits

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Evening Standard.

There could be “significant” economic benefits to prescribing a weight loss jab to thousands of people, though the main focus is on improving health, Steve Barclay, health secretary has said.

Barclay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that various health “challenges” linked to obesity, such as staff sickness and musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, have an impact on the labour market.

But he insisted the primary focus of the pilot scheme to expand access to weight-loss jabs is to tackle obesity and its related health issues such as type 2 diabetes and cancer.

Asked whether the Government’s aim is to help millions of people lose weight and for potentially many of those to get back to work and off benefits, he said: “Yes, we think this can be hugely significant. We know that obesity has very severe health consequences… the impact of obesity is very, very significant on the nation’s health.

“We also know that many people will have tried to lose weight, will have struggled to do so or, indeed, if they have lost weight, will have struggled to keep that weight off, so it’s right that we look at a range of innovations.”

Mr Barclay said the “purpose of the pilot is to inform what its potential scope is and what its wider benefits may be”.

He added: “And you’re right to signal there could be potential economic benefits because economic inactivity, mental health challenge, MSK (musculoskeletal conditions), various health challenges linked to obesity obviously have an impact in terms of the labour market, in terms of staff absence.

“But that’s not the criteria on which this pilot is being set; it has been set on health criteria, and that’s what we’re focused on.

Mr Barclay said he wants the NHS to be at the “front of the pack” when it comes to being able to dispense the new weight-loss drugs.

Speaking to GB News, he said the scheme “is part of a signal to suppliers that this is something the NHS is going to lead on”.

The Government wants to tackle poor health and the £6.5 billion cost to the NHS of obesity by making it easier to access the weight-loss treatments through GPs.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) gave approval for the use of appetite suppressant Wegovy (semaglutide) earlier this year, but said it should only be available through specialist services which are largely hospital-based.

The Government said that would mean only around 35,000 people having access to the treatment when tens of thousands more could be eligible under the criteria of having a body mass index of at least 35 and one weight-related condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

The two-year pilot will now explore how approved drugs can be made available to more people by expanding specialist weight management services outside hospitals.

Wegovy was approved for NHS use after research suggested users could shed more than 10% of their body weight.

The drug suppresses the appetite, so people feel fuller and therefore eat less food.

Announcing the pilot, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the latest drugs to support people to lose weight “will be a game-changer by helping to tackle dangerous obesity-related health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer”.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, welcomed the move but said there will need to be “sufficient resource and funding to account for the increased workload”.

She added that there also needs to be enough of the drug available “so as not to raise patients’ expectations, as there may be a significant number of people who would benefit from it”.