Am I eligible for a weight loss injection? Mounjaro will help unemployed people get back to work

New weight-loss vaccines could be given to unemployed people to help them get back to work, Wes Streeting has suggested. The Health Secretary said “expanding waistlines” were putting a strain on the NHS.

The latest generation of weight-loss drugs, such as Mounjaro, could be given to people to return to employment and to alleviate healthcare costs, he added.

Is Mounjaro available on the NHS?

Earlier this month, health chiefs announced that Mounjaro will be rolled out to 1.6 million NHS patients over the next 12 years.

Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide, is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, a family of medications that help control blood sugar. GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, with other popular semaglutide injections sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic.

These medicines have faced a series of supply problems in recent months, with many people choosing to pay for them privately. Each private clinic will set its own cost of weight loss vaccines for its patients, ranging from £150 to £350 per month depending on the treatment.

Mounjaro has been shown in clinical trials to be more effective than diet and exercise alone, and reduced body weight by up to 26 percent, compared to 15 percent with semaglutide.

Who is eligible for jabs on the NHS?

In the first three years of the phased rollout, almost a quarter of a million will receive Mounjaro vaccines, the NHS said. Patients will be eligible to receive the drug first if they have a BMI greater than 40 and at least three of the specific weight-related health problems, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea or cardiovascular disease.

It would then be offered to people with a BMI over 40 and two weight-related health problems, and then to people with a BMI over 40 and one weight-related health problem. In the later stages of the launch, Mounjaro will be offered to patients with a BMI of 35 or greater and qualifying weight-related health concerns.

Weight loss injections have previously only been offered to NHS patients through specialist clinics, however the new proposals would allow patients to receive the medicines through digital apps as well as community services. A three-week consultation on the plans is underway.

How will they be delivered to the unemployed?

Mr Streeting’s suggestion, in a Telegraph newspaper opinion article, came as the government announced a £279 million investment from Eli Lilly – the world’s largest pharmaceutical company – on the day the Prime Minister hosted an international investment summit.

The Health Secretary wrote: “Our increasingly large waistlines are also placing a significant burden on our health service, costing the NHS £11 billion a year – even more than smoking. And it’s holding back our economy. Diseases caused by obesity mean that people take, on average, four days of extra leave a year, while many others are forced to give up work.”

The announcement included plans for further real-world testing of the impact of weight-loss vaccines on unemployment. A study carried out by Health Innovation Manchester and Lilly will examine the “real-world effectiveness” of Mounjaro in weight loss, preventing diabetes, preventing obesity-related complications and impact on NHS use.

The investigation will also assess whether the drug will reduce unemployment and whether it will have any impact on reducing sick days among employed people. Experts said the results of the five-year trial, which will take place in Greater Manchester, “will potentially inform the UK’s care pathway approach to treating obesity”.

How effective is Mounjaro?

Mounjaro, made by Lilly, was hailed as the “King Kong” of weight-loss scams after a previous study found that people who took the drug, along with support to make exercise and diet changes, lost an average of 21%. of body weight. over a period of 36 weeks.

NHS officials have suggested that the rollout of the drug across England will have to be staggered due to anticipated high levels of demand. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) will publish its final guidance on Mounjaro and obesity later this year.

In his letter, the Health Secretary continued: “The long-term benefits of these medicines could be monumental in our approach to tackling obesity. For many people, these weight loss vaccines will change lives, help them get back to work and ease the demands on our NHS.”

A recent report from the NHS Confederation and the Boston Consulting Group highlights how economic inactivity in the UK has increased by 900,000 since 2020, with 85 per cent of this figure due to people being ill long-term. The authors stated that two main age groups are driving the increase in long-term illnesses along with economic inactivity – young people aged 18 to 24 and those aged 50 to 64, with the oldest group representing 55 percent of all inactive. long-term ill people. In both groups there was a “rapid increase” in the number of people reporting multiple health conditions, the report concluded.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) and mental health problems account for about 50 percent of all conditions reported by people who are long-term ill and economically inactive. Streeting insisted that individuals will need to continue to be responsible for taking “healthy living more seriously” as “the NHS cannot always be expected to foot the bill for unhealthy lifestyles”.

Most approved anti-obesity medications are offered with support for people to make lifestyle and dietary changes. Figures from the Health Survey for England show that in 2022, 29 percent of adults in England were obese and 64 percent were considered overweight or living with obesity.

According to government figures, obesity costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year and is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer. Obesity has also been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes. The NHS spends around £10 billion a year – almost 9% of its entire budget – on caring for people with diabetes.