A cross-party parliamentary committee has recommended significantly expanding access to the weight-loss injection Mounjaro on the NHS in England, arguing that current rollout plans are inadequate. The Health Committee characterized the existing arrangement to provide the medication to 220,000 people by 2028 as representing only approximately 6% of eligible individuals and insufficient in scope.
The committee identified the emergence of a two-tier healthcare system in which access to weight-loss medications is increasingly stratified by income. More than one million people have been obtaining weight-loss injections privately, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, due to limited NHS availability. Cost considerations have led the NHS to plan a 12-year rollout for Mounjaro, though this timeline is currently under review. Estimates suggest that providing the medication to all 2.8 million eligible individuals immediately would cost the NHS £15.2 billion over five years, with expense projections partly attributable to the NHS’s reliance on general practitioners for prescription oversight and patient monitoring.
The committee suggested that the NHS could reduce costs and improve efficiency by adopting digital platforms for patient support, citing private providers’ experience with such systems. The MPs also noted the broader economic considerations, pointing to obesity’s estimated annual cost to the economy of approximately £75 billion. They emphasized that streamlining support structures could prove financially prudent while improving patient outcomes.
Beyond medication access, the committee criticized the broader obesity treatment infrastructure as inadequately designed and resourced. They called for expanded access to dietary, lifestyle, and bariatric surgery services. The committee further recommended establishing public awareness campaigns and implementing regulatory reviews to address the black market for unlicensed weight-loss drugs online, which has expanded in response to NHS supply constraints. NHS England responded that it was exploring ways to accelerate medication rollout while prioritizing patients with the most severe and complex needs.
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