Weight loss injections are set to be more widely available on the NHS for free as part of a 10-year plan for the health service, Wes Streeting has said.
The Health Secretary said the so-called fat jabs are the “talk of the House of Commons tea rooms” and “half my colleagues are on them”, as he pledged to widen access.
Medications, such as Mounjaro, should be available according to need, not the ability to pay, he added as he vowed to get them into the hands of those who need them most.
Currently, people with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more, or 30 but with a linked health condition such as type 2 diabetes, can be prescribed jabs on the NHS through specialist weight-management services.
But others are paying hundreds of pounds a month to get their hand on the jabs through private pharmacies.
About a million Brits are estimated to already be using the injections.
“Weight-loss jabs are the talk of the House of Commons, half my colleagues are on them and are judging the rest of us saying ‘you lot should be on them’,” Mr Streeting told LBC radio on Thursday.
“And the thing is, if you can afford these weight loss jabs, which can be over £200 a month, well that’s all right for you.
“But most people in this country haven’t got a spare two and a half grand a year and often the people who have the worst and most challenging obesity also have the lowest income.
“So I’m bringing to weight loss jabs the principle of fairness which has underpinned the NHS.
“It should be available based on need and not the ability to pay.
“And that’s what we’re going to do on weight loss jabs, as well as a number of other things, including people getting more fit, more active, supporting people on diet and nutrition….that’s the bit of the weight loss jab debate that sometimes gets lost.
“It’s not that you can have some weight loss jabs and stuff your face with Jaffa cakes…”
Mr Streeting said obesity costs the NHS billions-of-pounds a year, adding that taxes have been going “up and up” to pay for the health service.
Laurie Lee, chief executive at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation said: “An NHS 10 Year Plan that looks beyond our hospitals, with communities at its heart, could be truly transformational.
“The scale and ambition of the plan is right for the challenge we face. Realising it won’t be easy.
“This must be part of a bigger, national health plan, and the government must put tackling health inequity at the forefront of its health mission.”
The Prime Minister will unveil his vision for the NHS in a major speech later on Thursday, as he seeks to shift focus away from several chaotic days in Westminster.
The plan will "fundamentally rewire" the health service and will focus on "three big shifts" in the way the it operates, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say.
It will mean people "begin to see and feel those changes" and improvement in the health service, Mr Streeting said.
The government "will be rolling [out] health centres starting off in areas with the highest levels of need".
The Health Secretary added that people will get increasing amounts of care in their home.
He told the BBC: "This is the game changer for the 21st century.
"Often we've been sent from village to town, to city. So now we're going to design care around you.
"You're going to have much more personal, personalised care, more ease, more convenience, more choice and control."
