The parliamentary health and social care committee (HSCC) today (July 17) launched an inquiry into the government’s approach to tackling the “obesity epidemic”, exploring “what public health interventions have been the most effective” at reducing this so far.
MPs will “delve into [the] challenges and opportunities weight loss medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro present to the NHS and to individuals”, the committee said.
It comes as the government revealed its 10-year plan for the NHS in England earlier this month, which pledged to “launch a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic”.
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The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) plan acknowledged that while “as many as 1.5 million people” are taking weight loss jabs, there is a risk that these medications “become the preserve of those who can afford them despite those without the financial means having higher need”.
Taking this into account, the HSCC stressed that its inquiry will “examine whether weight loss injections are cost-effective to the NHS and how they compare on this front to other treatments”.
It will also “explore how well weight management services are functioning in the NHS and whether they provide fair access to treatment”, the committee said.
“Launching a moonshot”
The HSCC has launched a “call for evidence and a survey” to help inform its inquiry and to “understand the experiences of people living with obesity or excess weight” and the “reality for them when it comes to accessing support and treatment”.
And it is “inviting written evidence submissions” on a list of questions about government food and weight management policies, which must be submitted before August 29.
The committee’s inquiry will also examine why “existing policies relating to food and diet have seemingly not succeeded in reducing rates of obesity”.
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It will explore what more the government and food industry “should do to address social inequalities and...[improve] access to affordable healthy food”.
HSCC acting chair Paulette Hamilton said that “this inquiry will examine both prevention and treatment, including the new possibilities and challenges presented by weight management medications”.
It will also investigate what “launching a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic” means “in practice and explore what sort of initiatives the government should be backing”, she said.
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It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer hinted earlier this month at plans to make “innovative” weight loss services “available in pharmacies” in the future as part of the 10-year plan.
Meanwhile, England chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) David Webb told C+D at the NHS Confed Expo last month that “flexible” weight loss jab service delivery models may see pharmacy at the front of rollout.
