Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) will start handling out monetary bonuses to GPs that prescribe weight loss jabs to patients as it moves to expedite the rollout of GLP-1 jabs nationally.
The BBC reports that the program will see GPs receive £3,000 in yearly bonuses for prescribing the weight loss jab Mounjaro to patients — with an extra bonus of about 1,000 pounds for referring patients to weight loss programs.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“Weight loss drugs can be a real game changer for those who need them. I’m determined that access should be based on need, not ability to pay.
“Outside the NHS, we’ve seen those who can spare the cash buying privately, and the proliferation of rogue prescribers peddling dangerous unlicensed drugs that are putting patients at risk.
“Investing in general practice will help bring this modern medicine to the many, not just the few, and help shift the focus of the NHS from treatment to prevention.”
The new weight-loss jab incentives initiative comes eight months after the NHS started the mass rollout of weight-loss jabs in England, allowing GPs to prescribe the drug for the first time.
The Sun reported on Monday the NHS rollout has been criticized for going to slowly, with critics asserting that it could take 12 years before it finally reaches all patients. Current NHS eligibility criteria for weight loss jabs — body mas index (BMI) of 40 or higher and four or more weight-related health conditions — are not expected to change right away under the new incentives system, as per The Sun.
More than 1.5 million people in the U.K. are believed to be privately buying the weight loss jabs privately at a cost of 150 pounds per month. The Sun pointed out that
Nine out of ten weight loss jab users are reportedly paying for it privately. Reports published last week indicate women represented almost 80 percent of private Mounjaro prescriptions.
The BBC explained that the criteria will widen next year to include those with a BMI of over 35 and higher, a change that is expected to result in 220,000 patients receiving NHS-provided Mounjaro.
Katharine Jenner, director of Obesity Health Alliance told the BBC that although the incentives are a welcome step, “This doesn’t mean weight loss drugs will suddenly be available to everyone who wants them.
“NHS access will remain very limited and focused on those with the greatest clinical need, and these treatments are most effective when combined with sustained support,” Jenner said.
“If we’re serious about moving from sickness to prevention, expanded treatment must go alongside stronger action to improve the food environment and prevent obesity in the first place,” she added.
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