14 October 2024, 22:44 | Updated: 14 October 2024, 22:46
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Obese unemployed people will be given weight-loss injections to help them get back into work, the Health Secretary has said.
Wes Streeting said that sickness caused by obesity was “holding back our economy”, as he unveiled a £279 million investment from the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company.
Mr Streeting said that the commitment by Lilly would include the first real-world trial of the effect of weight-loss jabs on unemployment rates, productivity and reliance on healthcare.
As many as 3,000 obese patients, including a mixture of people with and without jobs, as well as some on sick leave, will take part in a five-year study to investigate if the jabs increase productivity and bring people back to work.
Writing in the Telegraph, the Health Secretary said that tackling obesity would require work from individuals, the state, businesses and civil society.
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He said: “As a country, we’re eating more, eating less healthily and exercising less. The costs to the individual are clear – a less healthy and shorter life.
“Our widening waistbands are also placing significant burden on our health service, costing the NHS £11 billion a year – even more than smoking.
“And it’s holding back our economy. Illness caused by obesity causes people to take an extra four sick days a year on average, while many others are forced out of work altogether.”
Mr Streeting claimed that the NHS’ model made it an “ideal partner” for big pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly, and that Labour would make sure British patients were “at the front of the queue” for cutting-edge treatments.
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He wrote: “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 Mr Streeting also warned that the NHS could not always be called upon to shoulder the burden of people’s unhealthy habits.
Along with the right to access these new drugs, “there must remain a responsibility on us all to take healthy living more seriously,” he said, pointing to plans to ban junk food adverts targeted at children.
The UK is ranked 55th in the world for obesity, according to the World Obesity Observatory, at around 27% of the population.
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Being overweight or obese can have serious health consequences, including heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. These and other conditions can keep people out of work long-term or short-term.
Some 9.3 million people are economically inactive, according to the latest figures, as the UK battles a productivity crisis.
About 40% of the NHS budget is spent on preventable health conditions such as obesity, and this figure is set to rise.
Weight loss injections are already available on the NHS for obese people under certain conditions.
The drug offered in the Lilly trial is thought to be more effective than those currently on offer from the health service.
David A Ricks, the chairman and chief executive of Lilly, said: “We welcome this opportunity to partner with the UK Government on tackling and preventing disease, and accelerating innovation to advance care delivery models.”
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of the NHS, said: “Obesity is one of the biggest public health issues we face, and we know weight-loss drugs will be a game-changer, alongside earlier prevention strategies, in supporting many more people to lose weight and reduce their risk of killer conditions like diabetes, heart attack and stroke.”