Weight-loss drugs are not going to cure the country’s economic problems - Jayne Dowle

As well as investing £300m in weight-loss drug trials with Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturer of Mounjaro, or tirzepatide, the government is also ­introducing Mounjaro for weight loss on the NHS, planning to get 1.2 million people on the drug over the next 12 years.

High street pharmacies such as Boots and Superdrug already sell Mounjaro privately for about £200 a month.

Starmer told BBC Breakfast, “I think these drugs could be very important for our economy and for health.

“This drug will be very helpful to people who want to lose weight, need to lose weight, very important for the economy so people can get back into work.”

Really? Does it think it’s that simple? There are so many holes in his argument. Does he honestly, truly think that such significant numbers of the unemployed are obese and therefore it’s a hugely meaningful factor?

I’ve not seen any figures which correlate levels of obesity to levels of unemployment. If Starmer believes the popular narrative, that some people would rather lie on their sofas all day stuffing their faces with junk food than going out to work, then he needs to swap those fancy designer glasses and visit a food bank or two.

For avoidance of doubt, I suggest he focuses some time on looking at why so many people don’t work or can’t work. I recommend a quick scan of a jobs portal such as Indeed or even the government’s own jobs site.

Perhaps he’ll find no shortage of jobs, but are these jobs that people want to do, can do, are willing to do for paltry pay, and are qualified to do? I regularly support my own two young adults through the maze of job-hunting and it’s nowhere near as easy to find work as Starmer seems to think, especially in regions such as our own.

My kids are young people with no ties, no children to find care for whilst they are earning, no worries about having to commute to other towns and cities, or give care to older relatives, or meet a myriad other demands.

Starmer should face a few home truths; better education, including at college level, more direct investment in local areas where there are few jobs, more understanding of the role of private enterprise in creating jobs, more clarity over the barriers to seeking work – these are not all health-related.

His Health Secretary Wes Streeting put a little flesh on the bones when he told Sky News that “Our widening waistbands are also placing a significant burden on our health service, costing the NHS £11bn a year - even more than smoking. And it's holding back our economy.”

Streeting added that illness caused by obesity causes people to take an extra four sick days a year on average, while “many others are forced out of work altogether”.

They should both be careful over releasing this particular genie from the bottle.

More than 200 health professionals associated with the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) have signed an open letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, warning him that services are struggling to keep up with a “tidal wave” of demand for weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy, which are also available privately.

The letter was published with a report on obesity care from the OHA, which represents 60 health charities and Royal colleges in the UK. The report highlights glaring gaps in weight-loss services nationally, pointing out that many have closed referrals to their services, due to “capacity exceeding demand”.

The danger is that because the likes of Mounjaro are now being seen as a magic solution, other ways to help people overcome obesity – which can contribute toward diseases and conditions including cancer, diabetes, heart and mobility problems – will be sidelined before we know the full side-effects, long-term performance and potential repercussions of this so-called wonder drug.

Streeting warns that people should not be seeing Mounjaro as a miracle way to gain an "Instagram-perfect body". He should remind his boss that neither is this drug a way to solve both the problems of the NHS and unemployment with a quick injection.