What do you think to giving weight-loss jabs to unemployed people in a bid to get them back into work?
Health secretary Wes Streeting – who says ‘widening waistbands’ are really putting a strain on the NHS – thinks it’s a great idea. With obesity costing the UK health service more than a whopping £11 billion each year, it’s clear something’s got to be done – but is this really the answer?
Streeting says obesity-related illnesses lead to an average of four extra sick days per year for workers, with many pushed out of jobs because of it. Speaking in a Telegraph opinion piece, he rattled off some of the latest weight-loss meds such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, believing they could be game-changers for people looking to get back to work. Real-world trials would determine if it makes a difference or not.
The idea comes as the government rolled out a £279 million investment from Lilly, the big pharmaceutical player, at the prime minister’s international investment summit.
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A study by academic health science centre Health Innovation Manchester and Lilly will scrutinise whether the drugs will help people back into the workplace and the impact on NHS service use.
Streeting said: “The reforms this government will put in place will open the NHS up to work much more closely with life sciences, to develop new, more effective treatments, and put NHS patients at the front of the queue. The long-term benefits of these drugs could be monumental in our approach to tackling obesity. For many people, these weight-loss jabs will be life-changing, help them get back to work, and ease the demands on our NHS.”
But he stressed people need to take “healthy living more seriously”, as the “NHS can’t be expected to always pick up the tab for unhealthy lifestyles”.