Health Secretary Wes Streeting has proposed that unemployed individuals could be offered weight-loss injections, such as semaglutide or tirzepatide, to help them return to work.
He highlighted the increasing strain that rising obesity levels are placing on the NHS and suggested these medications could help ease both healthcare costs and worklessness.
Semaglutide is known better as Wegovy and tirzepatide as Mounjaro.
Streeting’s comments, made in The Telegraph, coincide with a £279m investment from pharmaceutical giant Lilly announced during an international investment summit hosted by the prime minister.
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The investment will fund real-world trials in Greater Manchester to assess the impact of weight-loss jabs on employment and NHS service use.
The study which is led by Health Innovation Manchester and Lilly will explore whether these drugs can reduce worklessness and ease the financial burden on the health service.
“Our expanding waistlines are placing a significant burden on the NHS, costing £11bn a year – more than smoking,” Streeting wrote.
“Obesity-related illnesses cause people to take an average of four extra sick days per year, and many are forced out of work entirely.”
During a BBC interview, Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the idea, stating that the “drugs could be vital for both the economy and health. They can help people who need to lose weight return to work and ease pressure on the NHS.”
Wes Streeting added that the long-term benefits of these medications could be transformative in tackling obesity which could help people return to the workforce while reducing the strain on the NHS.
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However, Streeting noted the importance of personal responsibility and added that people must take “healthy living more seriously” as the NHS cannot be expected to continuously cover the costs of unhealthy lifestyles.
Speaking on Radio 4, Dr. Dolly van Tulleken – an obesity policy expert and visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge, raised concerns about the ethical, financial, and efficacy issues of this approach.
While recognising the popularity of these interventions, Dr. van Tulleken questioned the feasibility of providing treatment to the millions who could be eligible given that specialist weight management services currently treat only 49,000 people per year.
Despite this, Lord Bethell agreed with Streeting’s approach and admitted that previous governments had “misread the public mood” on obesity.
