New weight loss jabs could be given to the unemployed to help them get back into work, Wes Streeting has suggested.
The Health Secretary said “widening waistbands” was placing a burden on the NHS.
The latest generation of weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic or Mounjaro, could be administered to people to get them back to work and ease health care costs, he added.
Streeting’s suggestion, in an opinion piece in the Telegraph newspaper, comes as the government announced a £279 million investment from Lilly – the world’s largest pharmaceutical company – on the day the Prime Minister hosted an international investment summit.
The health secretary wrote: “Our wider waistbands also place a significant burden on our healthcare system, costing the NHS £11 billion a year – even more than smoking. And it’s holding our economy back.
“Illness caused by obesity causes people to take an average of four extra sick days per year, while many others go out of work altogether.”
According to the Telegraph, plans announced at the summit will include real-world trials of the impact of diet injections on unemployment.
A study by Health Innovation Manchester and Lilly will investigate whether use of the drugs will reduce unemployment and the impact on the use of NHS services, and will take place in Greater Manchester.
Streeting continued: “The reforms this Government will implement will open up the NHS to work much more closely with the life sciences, developing new, more effective treatments and putting NHS patients at the front of the queue.
“The long-term benefits of these drugs could be enormous in our approach to tackling obesity. For many people, these weight loss jabs will be life-changing, helping them get back to work and easing the demands on our NHS.
However, Streeting said individuals will still need to remain responsible for taking “healthy living” more seriously as “the NHS cannot be expected to always pick up the tab for unhealthy lifestyles”.