People in Britain who can afford to pay out of their own pocket may get easier access to Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy than those seeking treatment in the country's state-run health service, some doctors and medical experts warned on Monday.
That risks worsening health inequality in the country with the highest obesity levels in Europe when Britain's National Health Service (NHS) is under increasing financial strain and struggling with record waiting times.
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk announced on Monday the launch of the drug in Britain, its fifth market, making it available on the NHS weight management scheme, where it will be prescribed for free, but also on the private market.
Novo said on Monday that it would allocate a portion of available supply for the NHS, which said around 50,000 patients could be eligible in England, but cautioned that supplies will be constrained for the foreseeable future.
Naveed Sattar, a Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow who has consulted for Novo but said he had no knowledge of its decision-making process, said he was "not comfortable" with Wegovy being available privately.
"It just doesn't make sense to me because there is substantial need in the NHS. Why wouldn't we put all that (supply) through the NHS?" he said.
A 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report said that nearly one in three adults are obese in the United Kingdom, the highest level in Europe.
In the most deprived areas in England, prevalence of obesity or being overweight is 14 percentage points higher than in the least deprived areas, data for 2020/21 show, according to a NHS report published in January.
Many obese people who live in poverty or face other barriers such as not speaking fluent English may struggle to access the NHS specialist service, said Duane Mellor, a dietician and senior lecturer at Aston University's medical school.
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