Ozempic-like weight loss jabs could one day be dished out like statins, says top NHS doctor
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WEIGHT loss jabs could one day be dished out like statins, England's top doctor says.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said in years to come they will get cheaper and may be used to prevent a range of illnesses.
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NHS' top doctor says weight loss jabs like Mounjaro "will become more widespread"
Credit: Alamy
But chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said they are 'not a get out of jail card' and people must still try to be healthy.
GPs will roll out Mounjaro across the country from this month.
The injections currently cost the NHS around £100 each but prices are expected to drop over time.
Research increasingly shows they have health benefits beyond diabetes and weight loss, potentially including reducing the risks of cancer, dementia and heart diseases.
These are not get-out-of-jail cards
Professor Sir Chris Whitty
Cholesterol-lowering statins have been used for decades to reduce heart attacks and strokes and now cost next to nothing at 3p a pill.
Studies suggest they also reduce the risk of dementia, though it is not what they were designed for.
Prof Powis said: 'The use of statins is now very different from when they first came out and I've no doubt that will be the same for these drugs.
'I think over time it's highly likely that they will become more widespread.
'I think there will be a combination of increased evidence of positive outcomes and costs dropping, and we will learn better how to deploy them.
'It's not completely unusual for drugs over time to be found to have effects that go over and beyond what they were initially designed for.
'I am not starry-eyed about weight loss drugs but it's very exciting.
'We're in the foothills of learning how to use them.'
NHS prescriptions surging
NHS use of the jabs is already skyrocketing and official figures show prescriptions in England surged from 1.4million in 2023 to 2.7m in 2024.
Doctors spent a total of £269million on them in the latest financial year and more than a million people are estimated to be buying them privately.
Prof Whitty said it is important for people to still get help to eat healthily and exercise, as well as taking medicine.
He added: 'These are not get out of jail cards.
'What we shouldn't do is use it as an excuse, as a society, not to deal with what is a rising and very serious problem.'
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