The growth in the number of weight loss injections could help obesity rates fall this year, pharmacists predict.
More than 500,000 people in Britain now take weight-loss injections, the majority of which come from private pharmacies.
The latest obesity figures from the NHS suggest that rates are starting to plateau for the first time in two decades. This may be due to the increasing use of medications including Mounjaro and Wegovy.
Simple Online Pharmacy, one of Britain’s largest providers of jabs, reports month-on-month growth of between ten and 40 percent. Rebecca Moore, chief operating officer, said Britain was “starting to see (obesity) rates fall”.
She said: ‘The private sector is already reducing obesity, at a rate of around 500,000 patients every six months.
‘We estimate that the savings to the NHS from not paying for treatment or clinical care is more than £1 billion per year, excluding the reduction in healthcare costs and the savings to wider society that this brings.’
Those who take the jabs can expect to lose up to 20 percent of their body weight, if used alongside diet and exercise. Patient data shows that the average starting BMI is 34.8.
It showed that on average, patients reversed their obesity in about six months during treatment. One in five patients who have lost weight no longer need medications for other conditions, the company said.
The growth in weight loss shots could help obesity rates fall this year, pharmacists predict (stock photo)
More than 500,000 people in Britain now take weight-loss injections, the majority of which come from private pharmacies (file photo)
Two in three Britons are classified as overweight or obese, while people now weighed around a stone more than 30 years ago.
Weight-related diseases cost the economy £74 billion a year, with overweight people at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
The NHS prescribes Wegovy, a higher dose version of the diabetes drug Ozempic, but it is only available at specialist weight loss clinics in parts of England.
Mounjaro has imposed a healthcare cap of 220,000 patients over the next three years amid fears over costs and delivery capacity.
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said she thought any reversal was “unlikely to hold up in reality.”
She said obesity is “a chronic, relapsing condition that requires professional support, as well as options such as weight-loss medications, for long-term success.” food and drink continuously marketed’.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: ‘We are taking action to tackle the causes of obesity, shifting the focus from treatment to prevention as part of our 10-year health plan.’