Ministers launch £40m pilot scheme to trial wider access to slimming jab

Ministers are launching a £40m pilot scheme to trial wider access to the controversial slimming jab Wegovy, to examine how people could receive the drug outside hospitals.

Under current advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence drugs regulator, Wegovy is only given via specialist weight management services, usually based in hospitals.

A lack of capacity in these would limit the drug to about 35,000 people at a time in England, with the government keen for a potentially broader rollout of the drug, weekly injections of which are said to help patients lose up to 15% of their body weight.

A less-closely regulated use of Wegovy, the UK brand name for the appetite suppressant Semaglutide that is manufactured by Danish company Novo Nordisk, could be contentious given recent concerns about the lasting effectiveness of the treatment.

Prescriptions are already limited by Nice to two years because no data is yet available on the drug’s long-term impacts. Side-effects include fatigue, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

The pilot will explore ideas such as GPs prescribing the drug or similar treatments, and how wider support could be given in the community or digitally to lessen pressure on hospitals.

Wegovy is the first drug approved to target obesity in the UK, and it is limited to adults with a BMI of at least 35 and who have one weight-associated condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

While obesity and its associated health effects are a significant strain on the NHS, costing it £6.5bn a year, it remains to be seen whether drug-based treatments can make a notable difference when years of effort involving diet- and lifestyle-based interventions have not.

Rishi Sunak said: “Obesity puts huge pressure on the NHS. Using the latest drugs to support people to lose weight will be a gamechanger 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.”

Sunak’s government has been accused, however, of being timid over more traditional means to combat obesity.

While there have been some measures, such as calorie labelling on some menus and limitations on the location of unhealthy foods in shops, there has been a delay to other measures, such as restrictions on multi-buy deals for unhealthy products and on the advertising of junk food.