The government is to invest £20 million into a ‘Vaccine Taskforce style’ approach to tackling the UK’s health challanges, including obesity.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak, the health social care secretary and the business secretary are set to meet with key industry experts, global CEOs and NHS leaders to look into “cutting-edge” new treatments, as obesity costs the NHS £6.1 billion a year.
The investment will be used to trial how best to deliver new medicines and technologies for people living with obesity, in particular for those in the UK’s most deprived communities.
As a result, some of these new medicines have the potential to reduce a person’s weight by more than 20%.
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“The NHS faces real pressures, which is why we are investing over £100 million in the technologies and medicines of the future to address some of the biggest public health challenges facing our country,” Sunak said.
“This funding will also help save the NHS millions of pounds that could otherwise be spent on patient care – for example by tackling obesity which costs the health service over £6 billion annually.”
Health and social care secretary, Steve Barclay added: “Conditions such as cancer and obesity prevent people leading long, healthy lives and cost the NHS billions of pounds every year.
“We’re leading the way in cutting-edge research which can find new ways to speed up diagnosis, enhance treatments and ensure a better quality of life for patients – both now and in the future.”
This comes following the roll out of restrictions on products high in fat salt or sugar (HFSS) across supermarkets and convenience stores. Looking to tackle obesity levels across the UK, the legislation which launched on 1 October banned these products from store entrances, gondola ends and checkout stations.
