Anti-obesity drugs are expected to be distributed on a “large scale” and are expected to be used as commonly as statins, a health minister has said.
Health minister Neil O’Brien said that no country in the world has turned the tide on the “global obesity epidemic” as he said that curative measures need to be taken on top of preventative work.
We do think (these drugs) have the potential to become in a sense like statins and to become something that is adopted on a large scale— Health minister Neil O’Brien
The “game-changing” drugs are “rolling out at scale”, Mr O’Brien told peers.
Many different types of anti-obesity medicines are being tested in clinical trials, but the only ones that have been approved for use in the NHS for weight management are orlistat, liraglutide and semaglutide.
“We are particularly interested in the rollout of the new anti-obesity drugs as a potentially game-changing event in that potentially devastating global trend,” Mr O’Brien told the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee.
“And those drugs we do think have the potential to become in a sense like statins and to become something that is adopted on a large scale and really does cause an inflection in that terrible trend (that we have) seen over 40 or 50 years on obesity.
Asked whether the Government was shifting emphasis “from prevention to cure”, he said: “We do also want to make maximum use of these incredibly exciting new drugs.
“I mean, we’re seeing in the tests of semaglutide … people losing up to 15% of their body (weight) while on them.
“We need to do all these other things on the preventative side and we must continue to press on with all those things.
“But when you do look at the international trends on obesity, and you look at their likely consequences for the NHS and to public health … You do look at those numbers and you think we need something new as well as all the preventative measures in the world.
“You can’t see any country in the world that’s managed to get to an inflection point on the global obesity epidemic.
“So we’re hugely excited about the new drugs. We’re testing them at scale, or they’re rolling out at scale, but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to drop all these other things and you know, just rely on the other drugs to make all the problems go away.”
Obesity levels in adults in England have risen from 26.2% in 2016 and 28% in 2019, the Committee was told.
The comments come as the minister was hauled before the Committee to explain why the Government’s decision to delay a ban on buy-one-get-one-free deals for unhealthy food products.
Mr O’Brien said it would be a “terrible time” to ban multibuys on junk food and said the decision was made due to the “unprecedented level of food price inflation”.
But he promised that the measure would be introduced in 2025.
“It couldn’t have been worse timing to bring it in really … it doesn’t mean we’re backing away from these policies,” he told peers.
“Its not a change of policy, it is simply a delay.”
He added: “The reason why we made this decision, which was a difficult decision, was simply the unprecedented level of food price inflation.
“We didn’t do anything at that point to make the problem of food price inflation – which hits poor households so much – any worse than it already was.
“That was the policy rationale.
“It doesn’t reflect any backing away from our desire to tackle the problem of obesity, simply that it was a terrible time to do anything that could have even slightly raised food prices even further.”
Mr O’Brien said that a couple of major supermarkets had voluntarily introduced a policy to stop multibuys on foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar (HFSS),but others have not which means the “need for legislation remains”.
But he stressed that “location policies” on foods in supermarkets had already been reaping benefits.
In 2021, the Government pledged to ban big shops from promoting unhealthy foods in key locations, such as checkouts, store entrances and aisle ends.
