Weight loss drugs to become cheaper, more widely available - expert

Weight loss drugs are set to become cheaper and more accessible, a public health specialist says.

The British government has announced a five-year trial of Mounjaro, which is ordinarily prescribed to treat diabetes, to see if it can help unemployed people who are obese get back to work.

The medicine can help obese or overweight people to lose weight and feel full, the government's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said.

Auckland University professor of population nutrition Boyd Swinburn said there was a lot of prejudice around obesity, while people with high blood pressure and cholesterol got a lifetime's supply of funding.

The British government's approach showed fresh thinking, Swinburn said.

Weight loss drugs were set to become "more readily available and cheaper".

However, the drugs needed to be part of a wider package of support that included diet and exercise, he said.

"That's kind of a given."

Public health policies to prevent obesity remained crucial, he said.

University of Otago medical professor Jim Mann said the British plan was novel, but needed discussion.

The diabetes and nutrition researcher said until global shortages were resolved and more drugs were made available, the programme would have limited benefits.

The drugs were "a long way" off being widely available as a tool to manage obesity, he said.

Any medication for obesity must be part of an overall strategy to manage the epidemic, and it was crucial that people who were overweight or obese were not stigmatised, Mann said.