Obese jobless Brits to be given weight loss jabs in bid to ‘get them back to work’,… [Video]

14 October 2024, 22:44 | Updated: 14 October 2024, 22:46

Obese unemployed people will be given weight-loss injections to help them get back into work, the Health Secretary has said.

Wes Streeting said that sickness caused by obesity was “holding back our economy”, as he unveiled a £279 million investment from the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company.

Mr Streeting said that the commitment by Lilly would include the first real-world trial of the effect of weight-loss jabs on unemployment rates, productivity and reliance on healthcare.

As many as 3,000 obese patients, including a mixture of people with and without jobs, as well as some on sick leave, will take part in a five-year study to investigate if the jabs increase productivity and bring people back to work.

Writing in the Telegraph, the Health Secretary …