Outrage over Labour’s plans for free weight loss jabs on the NHS as majority of Britons believe people should pay for treatment privately

Labour’s plan for free weight-loss jabs on the NHS is facing a backlash from taxpayers who believe patients should buy them privately, a poll has found.

Health Minister Wes Streeting has backed prescribing the drugs to obese patients in the hope it can tackle the country’s bulging waistlines.

But the public is largely against the move at a time when the NHS – despite receiving record amounts of funding – routinely misses targets for cancer, ambulances and waiting lists.

According to the IPSOS survey of 2,161 British adults for the Mail and Guardian, Britons are more likely to believe people should pay for the jabs privately – or go without – rather than get them for free from the NHS.

Around 34 per cent of voters think the NHS should offer weight loss jabs, while 38 per cent say this should not happen.

The research also found that more than one in five people (22 per cent) are ‘very or somewhat likely’ to use weight-loss jabs in the future if they are offered by the NHS.

But this drops to just 8 per cent if they had to pay the going rate of around £180 to £220 a month to buy them from a private prescriber.

If they were offered to 22 percent of adults in Britain at this price, it would cost the NHS £28 billion a year – around a sixth of England’s annual healthcare budget.

More than one in five people (22 percent) are ‘very or fairly likely’ to use weight-loss shots in the future if they are provided by the NHS, a survey has found (Stock image)

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It is becoming clear to taxpayers that comprehensive healthcare is no longer sustainable.

‘With the NHS unable to even carry out its vital functions at an adequate level, expanding the range of freely available treatments seems another example of misplaced priorities.

“Street users should consider ways to encourage private use of these jabs before reaching for the taxpayer-funded credit card.”

The research exposes a stigma surrounding the jabs, with one in four (23 per cent) of people planning to use them admitting they are unlikely to tell their friends or family.

Meanwhile, 9 percent of respondents already know a friend or family member who will take them and 4 percent plan to use them themselves in January as they try to shift their sluggishness into the new year.

Mr Streeting, who suggested giving obese unemployed people the jab to get them back into work, has said: ‘Weight-loss drugs have huge potential.

‘In combination with a healthy diet and exercise, they can be a game changer in tackling obesity and returning good health to people.’

But obesity expert Dr Dolly van Tulleken, from the University of Cambridge, has warned that, in addition to the ‘serious ethical, financial and effectiveness considerations’, the plans are also unrealistic.

Mr Streeting has proposed giving obese unemployed people the jabs to get them back to work (file photo)

The weight loss jab Wegovy is already available to some patients on the NHS and around 220,000 people with the greatest clinical need could receive Mounjaro over the next three years.

Drugs watchdog Nice has agreed the NHS can phase the rollout of Mounjaro to avoid it being overwhelmed by demand, with an estimated 3.4 million people eligible.

Research shows that patients typically lose more than 20 percent of their body weight from Mounjaro and less than 14 percent from semaglutide, the main ingredient in Wegovy.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said weight loss jabs are ‘brilliant’ if used responsibly and purposefully, but he is ‘flabbergasted’ that people choose to use them ‘willy-nilly’.

He warned users of serious side effects, saying they are too often taken as a “recreational drug.”

Mr Fry added: ‘Everyone must continue to lose weight by choosing to eat better food, eating less of it and exercising more.’

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: ‘The NHS should, and has been approved, offer weight loss drugs as a cost-effective way to control obesity and prevent serious future health problems, including type 2 diabetes. heart disease. , various forms of cancer, dementia and depression.’

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, President of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘Weight loss drugs have been shown to be beneficial for some patients who meet certain criteria – and there is certainly great potential to improve the health risks for many patients so that they can live longer and healthier.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, President of the Royal College of GPs, delivers a speech at the college’s annual conference in Liverpool

‘It is important, however, that weight-loss drugs are not seen as a miracle cure for weight loss; they are not without risks and will not be suitable for everyone.”

An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘While weight loss medicines are an important tool to support people with weight loss, the huge number of people who may be eligible for these treatments means it is right for the NHS to adopt a phased rollout, with priority given to those with the best clinical symptoms. need.’

A Department of Health spokesperson said: ‘Obesity is debilitating, costs lives and puts a strain on both the economy and the NHS.

“These anti-obesity medications can greatly help those in real need, but we must recognize that these medications are not a substitute for a good diet, healthy lifestyle and exercise.”