Keir Starmer’s government in the UK is planning to use weight-loss measures to help obese unemployed people get back into work and tackle high rates of long-term disease – in a trial that will see the country’s There has been a huge pressure for this.
US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced on Monday it would pledge £279 million ($364 million) to help tackle Britain’s key health challenges, including obesity.
The plans with Lilly, announced at the UK International Investment Summit, will include the first test of the jab’s impact on unemployment, productivity and National Health Service (NHS) dependency.
Under this 5-year trial deal, the US pharmaceutical giant will seek to better understand how tirazepide – the GLP-1 treatment behind its Zepbound and Monjaro drugs – relates to weight loss, diabetes prevention and obesity. How does it affect the prevention of complications? Treatment
The five-year trial, conducted in collaboration with Health Innovation Manchester, will also explore how the weight-loss drugs affect “participants’ employment status and sick days from work,” Eli Lilly’s press release said.
CNBC said, “This collaboration will add to the evidence base on the real-world impact of obesity treatments on the health of people with obesity, and explore a wide range of outcomes, including the impact on health-related quality of life and individuals’ employment status.” ” said Professor Rachel Batterham, Senior Vice President of International Medical Affairs at Lille.
Meanwhile, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said obesity was causing people to take an extra four days sick and placing a huge burden on the state-run NHS).
The English Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying, “Our growing waistlines are also placing a significant burden on our health service, costing the NHS £11 billion a year – even more than smoking.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said weight loss drugs are “very important” for the economy because they help people return to work.
“It is very important for the NHS, as I have said repeatedly, to say yes, we need more money for our NHS, but we have to think differently,” the BBC quoted Starmer as saying.
According to a 2022 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UK had higher obesity rates than all EU countries except Malta.
