Get Your NHS Weight-Loss Shot at Pharmacies Under Streeting's Obesity Plan
NHS weight-loss jabs are set to become available in pharmacies over the coming years as part of a plan to boost the nation’s health, which Wes Streeting will set out this week.
The “10-year health plan” to be published on Thursday will aim to cut obesity in the English population in order to reduce pressure on the NHS, including by nudging overweight people to consume 200 fewer calories a day.
As well as encouraging better diets, the Health Secretary has said that wider use of weight-loss medication such as Wegovy and Mounjaro will be part of the fight against obesity.
The drugs are currently available on the NHS only for the most severely obese patients, while wealthier people can access them on the private market.
Until recently, weight-loss medication could only be obtained on the NHS through specialist clinics, which typically have long waiting lists.
GPs are now able to prescribe Mounjaro, but only a small minority of patients are eligible due to supply shortages, and must agree to “wrap-around care”, including regular check-ups and lifestyle advice.
Eventually, Government officials expect that pharmacies rather than GPs will be able to prescribe drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy to patients who are obese but do not have other serious health problems that could complicate their course of treatment.
The current two-tier system, with the drugs available to those who can afford them privately, even if they are only moderately overweight, is seen within Government as being unfair and potentially dangerous, because some online sellers cannot be relied upon to provide safe medication.
Key to expanding NHS eligibility is working with current and future suppliers to push down the price of the drugs – which work by suppressing the appetite – until it is affordable for the health service to offer jabs to every clinically obese person who wants one.
Pharmaceutical companies will also be offered the chance to team up with the NHS on clinical trials which could bring more treatments to market in due course.
Asked whether a majority of obese people could eventually be using a weight-loss jab, Streeting told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg : “Well, that’s a potential and that’s why we’re beginning to roll out obesity drugs on the NHS for people who are suffering from severe obesity.”
He added: “We can work with people to help them get their weight down with weight loss jabs which are I think showing encouraging signs of being impactful.”
Streeting has also confirmed plans, first revealed by The i Paper , to push supermarkets to encourage their customers to choose healthier food and drink options, for example by offering discounts on certain items or changing the layouts of their shops. He said that cutting 216 calories from the daily intake of every overweight person would halve the nation’s obesity rate.
In a message to Labour MPs, the Health Secretary warned: “Unless we curb the rising tide of costs and demand on the NHS, we risk not having an NHS.” He added: “This is more nudge than nanny. We’re not banning things or putting up prices for customers. I don’t want to be the fun police – this is about making the healthy choice the easy choice.”
Helen Whately, the Conservatives’ shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, told Times Radio: “If the number one thing in their 10-year plan is to hide crisps, that’s pretty disappointing. People want to see their GP. They want treatment when they go to A&E, not to have to hunt for snacks in a supermarket.”
