The British Department of Health announced on Monday a “very important for the economy” partnership with the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, creator of innovative drugs against obesity.
The British government wants to use new generation treatments for obesity to reduce pressure on the public health system and help people to “return to work”after an agreement with an American laboratory.
At a summit in London on Monday, the government announced a partnership with the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, the creator of one of these ultra-popular treatments, which plans to invest 279 million pounds (335 million euros) in the United Kingdom. “This drug will be very useful for people who want to lose weight, who need to lose weight, and very important for the economy so that people can return to work”underlined Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an interview on Tuesday with the BBC. ‘We need to reduce pressure on the NHS’the public health system in crisis after years of underfinancing, “and this will contribute to it”he added.
One of the highest obesity rates in Europe
A laboratory “innovation accelerator” will be created near Manchester and will allow the impact to be studied for five years “in real life” of Mounjaro, the treatment of Eli Lilly. According to the Telegraph3,000 people with obesity who are unemployed, temporary workers or on sick leave will be recruited for this study, which must in particular evaluate whether taking this medication allows patients to return to work.
According to Health Minister Wes Streeting, obesity costs the NHS £11 billion every year, “even more than smoking”pushing some people to stop working and others to “take on average four additional days of sick leave per year”. He stressed that taking these treatments should not make us forget the need to“adopt a healthy lifestyle”.
Ozempic is the best known of these treatments against obesity. Eli Lilly developed its own tirzepatide molecule and Mounjaro was the subject of a shortage almost as soon as it was put on the market in 2022 in the United States. It was authorized in February in the United Kingdom. According to figures from January 2023, 26% of adults are obese in England and 38% are overweight, one of the highest proportions in Europe.
At the end of August 2024, the unemployment rate stood at 4% in the UK, with 1.39 million people aged over 16 out of work. Some 9.26 million people between the ages of 16 and 64 are considered “economically inactive”that is to say out of the labor market and not looking for work, a figure which has jumped in the United Kingdom with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Ineffective” measures according to a think tank
The government’s announcements caused several NGOs and associations to jump, including the think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). For Chris Thomas, its director, there is no point in sending obese people back into the work environment that is responsible for their health problems.
It ensures that employers must be able to guarantee their employees access to healthy food or risk sanctions from the Health and Safety Executive, the competent authority for work inspection. “Direct access to healthy food is decisive for a person’s weight and diet in the workplace”explains Chris Thomas, for whom “strong pressure” et “staggered hours” can encourage workers to rely more on “takeaway”.
The think tank suggests that the government agree with companies on standards of good health in the workplace. Authorities could also sanction large companies that display “an unacceptable rate of resignations due to health problems”.
