Weight loss jabs for unemployed not dystopian, says Wes Streeting

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has dismissed suggestions that plans to provide weight loss jabs to unemployed people with obesity are “dystopian”.

The UK government is partnering with pharmaceutical giant Lilly who are running a five-year trial in Greater Manchester to test if the weight-loss drug Mounjaro can help get more people back to work and prevent obesity-related diseases to ease the strain on the NHS in England.

The announcement prompted a backlash, with accusations that the government was stigmatising unemployed individuals and reducing people to their economic value.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said the jabs were part of a broader healthcare plan, adding that he was “not interested in some dystopian future where I involuntarily jab unemployed people who are overweight”.

“There’s a lot of evidence already that these jabs combined with changes to diet and exercise can help people to reduce their weight but also prevent cardiovascular disease and also diabetes which is game-changing,” Streeting said.

But he cautioned against creating a “dependency culture”.

Some injections are already prescribed on the NHS for the treatment of obesity, and also for people with diabetes.

Illnesses relating to obesity cost the NHS £11bn a year, Streeting said.

Obesity has also been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes, with the NHS spending around £10bn a year – 9% of its budget – to care for people with diabetes.

The NHS’s latest Health Survey for England shows in 2022, 29% of adults in England were obese and 64% were deemed to be overweight or living with obesity.

Streeting said he was expecting “demand” for new weight-loss drugs to outstrip NHS supplies.

The UK trial is a world first and will measure the impact on the job prospects of up to 3,000 people living with obesity in the Greater Manchester area.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously told the BBC the jabs would be “very helpful” to people who want and need to lose weight.

“[The drug is] very important for our NHS, because, yes we need more money for the NHS, but we’ve also got to think differently”.

Prof Simon Capewell, an expert in public health at Liverpool University, called the plans “unethical,” saying they target people for economic reasons “rather than prioritising the person’s own interests and health”.

Obesity expert Dr Dolly van Tulleken said, besides the “serious ethical, financial, and efficacy considerations,” the plans were also unrealistic.

The eligible population for this plan was “in the millions” with specialist weight management services only able to treat 49,000 per year, Dr Van Tuelleken said.

Previous plan “looking at people, or measuring people based on their potential economic value, rather than primarily based on their needs and their health needs” had gone down “very badly” in the past, she told BBC Radio 4′ Today programme.

Streeting defended the government’s decision to test the economic impact of weight loss drugs.

“If we can throw the trends we are seeing in obesity into reverse that’s better for the health of the nation,” Streeting said.

Improved public health is also “better for the health of the nation’s finances”, he added.

Labour campaigned on a promise to shift the NHS from treating sickness towards prevention.

Streeting is set to launch a consultation on Monday on proposals such as giving patients smartwatches and wearable devices to track their health and address serious conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS also includes rolling out more weekend working to clear waiting lists and creating neighbourhood health centres to reduce the growing strain on hospitals.

Streeting told the BBC the government would be “linking” funding for NHS trusts to their ability to implement reforms.

When asked if hospitals and trusts could be penalised for not “playing ball”, he replied “we definitely need to manage performance”.

The government is reportedly looking at ways to change NHS funding to stop trusts from running up debts and needing to be bailed out.

Streeting told the BBC: “One of the things that has become normalised in the NHS is the culture where the trust builds up massive deficits year after year and they’re not held to account, in the way that say local councils are.”