Jab for obese adults set to become easier to obtain through NHS

A new jab that can help obese adults lose 15 per cent of their body weight is set to be made more widely available on the NHS, after the government announced it was exploring ways for patients to receive it without having to go to hospital.

NICE, the body which rules on the cost-effectiveness of novel medicines, earlier this year approved the new drug, semaglutide, but said it should be available only through specialist weight-management services, most of which are in hospitals. 

The government said on Tuesday that this would mean only about 35,000 people would have access to it “when tens of thousands more could be eligible”.

Ministers are desperate to relieve pressure on hospitals as the NHS attempts to clear waiting lists for treatment currently standing at a record 7.3mn.

Obesity, which affects more than one in four people in England, was a factor in more than 1mn admissions to NHS hospitals in 2019-2020, the government said. The condition, which can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, costs the NHS an estimated £6.5bn a year.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak, who has declared reducing queues for NHS care as one of the “five priorities” by which he will be judged by voters at the general election, said obesity put huge pressure on the NHS.

He added: “Using 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, reducing pressure on hospitals, supporting people to live healthier and longer lives, and helping to deliver on my priority to cut NHS waiting lists.”

Patients inject themselves once a week using pens filled with semaglutide. NICE said the drug “makes people using it feel full, thereby resulting in people eating less and reducing their overall calorie intake”.

A £40mn pilot project will look at how GPs might safely prescribe the weight-loss drug “and how the NHS can provide support in the community or digitally” for those taking it, the government said.

NHS medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said pharmaceutical treatments offered a new way of helping people living with obesity to recover a healthier weight.

NHS England was already working to implement the recommendations from NICE “to make this new class of treatment available to patients through established specialist weight-management services, subject to negotiating a secure long-term supply of the products at prices that represent value for money for taxpayers”, he added.

However, Jim McManus, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said that while semaglutide would help some people lose weight as long as they remained on the drug, “this isn’t a lasting solution. In the long run not only will it not shift the dial on obesity but over the years will cost the public purse far more than a proper strategy which shifts us as a society to healthier food choice and healthier weight.”