WEIGHT FOR IT

JAGS TRIAL MAY PAVE WAY FOR FREE INJECTIONS ON THE NHS

- BY PAUL HUTCHEON

THOUSANDS of Scots from deprived areas will get free weight-loss jags in a bid to tackle the obesity crisis.

A trial funded by the Labour Government will dish out doses of Wegovy injections that can cost more than £100 a month.

Labour MP for Glasgow South West, Dr Zubir Ahmed, who is leading the pilot study, said he hoped the jags could eventually be rolled out to the rest of the population, helping to cut costs for the NHS and the sickness benefits bill.

About 2.5million people in Britain use weight-loss drugs but most are paid for out of people's own pockets.

Critics worry that limited availability on the NHS means there is a two-tier system based on availability to pay.

Ahmed, who is a health minister in the UK Government, has announced an initial £650,000 for a project to widen access.

The partnership involves the Government, Glasgow University, clinical trial provider IQVIA and pharma firm Novo Nordisk, which will make Wegovy injections free to thousands of Scots in poorer areas.

Ahmed, an NHS surgeon, said obesity affects almost one in three Scots, with the figure rising to about 50 per cent in deprived communities.

"That's a situation that we're not willing to accept as a UK Government," he told the Record.

"We're providing funding to start this study that's going to direct anti-obesity medication to the most deprived communities, and study its effects and how we can roll it out faster to the rest of the population."

Based on data and conversations he has had with experts, Ahmed said anti-obesity jags "absolutely" have a part to play in tackling obesity.

Ahmed claimed that as a Labour politician, he wants to widen access to medications that are in the hands of the better off.

He said: "At the moment what happens is if you can afford it, you get yourself a drug online or a private prescription and if you can't afford it, you suffer.