BLAIR INSTITUTE: SEND FAT JABS BY POST TO HALF THE POPULATION
Weight-loss injections by post should be offered to half the adult population, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) has said.
The think tank called for the mass NHS rollout of the medication using “digital-first” methods.
Patients would not have to visit a doctor in person, with drugs instead sent in the mail after an online consultation.
The injections should be targeted in particular at the over-40s via health checks, TBI researchers said.
The rollout would allow £3.5 billion to be cut from the benefits bill by getting people back to work, the institute said, suggesting employers could contribute to costs.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said last year that obesity was a “huge drag on the NHS, the economy and the quality of people’s lives”.
He said the Government would work with the health service to trial new “digital-first technologies to get these treatments to people faster”.
But so far, NHS officials have drawn up plans to offer drugs to just 220,000 people over three years.
On Tuesday, the TBI branded that plan “unambitious”, “outdated” and “painfully slow”.
TBI researchers said NHS England’s decision to ration the injections was based on “wildly resource-intensive assumptions” which were “hugely expensive”.
The model used by the NHS assumes each patient requires 21 GP appointments, five psychologist sessions, five dietician visits, four nurse consultations, three clinical pharmacist meetings and one healthcare assistant appointment.
The estimated costs of the programme per patient are more than £1,200 in the first year alone – equivalent to the annual cost of the drugs, the report notes.
Instead, the TBI researchers are calling for mass medication, with injections offered to anyone with a BMI of 27 or over, in order to boost productivity and help the economy.
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This would mean around 26 million people being offered them, with estimates that around 15 million would take up the offer.
The report says costs could be slashed if deals were done at scale, suggesting pharmaceutical giants would agree to halve prices.
Employers could also pay towards costs, as could the Government, with individual contributions means-tested, so they cost nothing for those on free prescriptions, while others would pay in full.
Experts said the injections should be particularly aimed at those of working age over the age of 40, following mid-life health checks.
People of all ages should also be able to come forward for the injections, at online pharmacies and major retailers, TBI researchers said.
Dr Charlotte Refsum, director of health policy at TBI said: “Obesity places an intolerable strain – not just on our health – but on our health system, the welfare system and the economy more widely. These drugs could be transformative for Britain’s health and economy.”
“The Government must follow its instincts and be bolder – providing faster, broader access in a more convenient way that meets [patients] where they are – online, at home and in the high street,” she said.
“The cost of treating obesity may be high but the cost of not treating it is higher.”
Last week, cardiologists were among those hailing a “golden age” of obesity treatment after the injections were found to halve heart deaths, with a similar impact on cancer.
The TBI report said “people in their 40s, 50s and 60s are in the ‘sweet spot’ for prevention” of killer incidents such as heart attacks, which are linked to obesity.
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To give injections on the scale the TBI wants would require “low-cost, light-touch models to be sustainable”, with the NHS app used to help millions of people to self-refer for help.
Modelling suggests that the rollout of injections would boost GDP by 0.55 per cent, with £2 billion taken from the DWP bill in five years, and savings of £3.5 billion within ten years.
The research suggested the rollout would be cost-neutral within 10 years, with cumulative fiscal benefits of £52 billion by 2050.
However, if all 26 million people with a BMI of 27 or over were put on the drugs, the annual costs would be about £38 billion – about 17 per cent of total health spending – without deals to push costs down.
The report highlighted previous research which suggested obesity cost society almost £100 billion annually, with £15 billion in lost productivity and a £19 billion burden on the NHS.
It found that just 4,000 people a month were obtaining the jabs through the NHS, compared to one million who access them through private online pharmacies.
It called for the creation of a new government body, Protect Britain, to lead on models of prevention of ill-health that can boost the economy.
A slew of studies have shown the weight loss injections are more effective than statins in reversing chronic diseases.
However, there have been concerns that it has been too easy for those of healthy weight to lie to obtain jabs, with some ending up in A&E. Since then there have been efforts to tighten loopholes, with checks via video or GP records on the weight of patients.
Martin Fidock, UK managing director at Oviva, the largest provider of weight-loss injections to the NHS, said Britain needed to rapidly scale up its rollout of the treatment.
He said: “We have an opportunity to turn the tide on obesity; GLP-1 drugs improve the health of patients, reduce pressure on the NHS and they boost the economy.”
Katharine Jenner, the director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “This report clearly lays out the economic benefits that could come from greater investment in weight-loss drugs, improving access for those who need them most, and helping reduce doctors’ waiting lists.
“But medication alone won’t fix a system that drives poor health from the very earliest years of life. We cannot outsource our children’s future health to pharmaceutical companies.”
An NHS spokesman said weight loss drugs “need to be prescribed by a healthcare professional alongside programmes that help people lose weight and live healthier lives by making changes to their diet and physical activity”.
He added: “It’s also crucial that they are prioritised for those who need them most, but the NHS is ambitious to explore better methods of delivery.”
2025-05-20T05:17:11Z
