UK MPs urge wider free access to weight-loss drug Mounjaro in England
The Health Committee wants treatment extended to hundreds of thousands more people, while NHS England says it is examining ways to speed up provision.
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The Health Committee wants treatment extended to hundreds of thousands more people, while NHS England says it is examining ways to speed up provision.
A cross-party group of MPs has called for hundreds of thousands more people in England to receive the weight-loss injection Mounjaro through England’s publicly funded National Health Service (NHS). The Health Committee’s recommendation seeks to expand publicly funded treatment; it does not itself change access, BBC reported on 22 October.
The current plan is to provide Mounjaro free on prescription to 220,000 people in 2028. The BBC report describes that as around 6% of eligible people. Because of costs, the NHS is working to a 12-year rollout, although that timetable is under review.
More than a million people have been paying privately for weight-loss injections, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, according to the BBC. The committee said restricted NHS access was creating a two-tier system in which wealthy patients could obtain the appetite-reducing medicines more easily. Wegovy is available on the NHS only through specialist weight-management services.
The BBC reported an estimate that immediately providing Mounjaro to all 2.8 million eligible people would cost the NHS £15.2 billion over five years. Some of that expense comes from relying heavily on general practitioners—family doctors—to oversee prescribing and monitor patients.
MPs urged the NHS to learn from private providers that use digital platforms for some prescribing and monitoring. They argued that simplifying patient support could reduce costs.
The committee also called for action against the black market for weight-loss drugs. It said limited NHS availability had driven people to buy unlicensed products online, and recommended a public warning campaign and a review of online advertising regulation. MPs also sought better access to diet and lifestyle courses and bariatric surgery, which treats obesity.
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NHS England said it was prioritising patients with the most severe and complex needs. It is examining ways to accelerate provision of weight-loss drugs as the Mounjaro rollout timetable remains under review.
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