I’ve found it hard to engage on the topic of Wegovy, because it sounds like a comedian’s pet name for Michael Gove, but as the weight loss drug arrives in the UK this week, available privately and on the NHS, I’m struck by what an amazing moment this is. An anti-obesity medicine has been big pharma’s holy grail for as long as I can remember. I once asked a bunch of GPs which disease they would eradicate if they had a magic wand and every single one of them chose type 2 diabetes.
Despite this being a breakthrough, it is going to pose an immense challenge to those, in medicine and beyond, who think of obesity as a moral failure; those who blame people living with obesity for their body shape, as well as any other condition they might have, and from there trace a direct line to any overall health system crisis. Which is almost everybody.
