Britain to study use of weight loss drug to get people back to work

Britain will study whether the use of Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug can get people back into work and help tackle the high rate of long-term sickness that has become a major drag on the economy.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting predicted the use of the drug – a competitor to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic – could help transform the health of the nation, after Lilly announced a 279 million pound investment in Britain as part of a flagship summit hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The deal included “a major real-world study into obesity” on the effectiveness of tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro in Britain.

“The long-term benefits of these drugs could be monumental in our approach to tackling obesity,” Streeting wrote in an article in the Telegraph newspaper.

“For many people, these weight-loss jabs will be life-changing, help them get back to work, and ease the demands on our NHS.”

The University of Manchester will coordinate the study and collect data on “health-related quality of life and changes in participants’ employment status and sick days from work.”

Earlier this month, England’s National Health Service (NHS) outlined a plan to give the drug to nearly a quarter of a million people as part of a three-year plan.

Streeting said that while the drug would be a tool to tackle obesity, people would need to make lifestyle changes too so that the state-run health service, already struggling after years of crises, was not put under further strain.

“Along with the rights to access these new drugs, there must remain a responsibility on us all to take healthy living more seriously,” Streeting said.

“The NHS can’t be expected to always pick up the tab for unhealthy lifestyles.”