Millions could miss out on the National Health Service’s (NHS), new “miracle” weight-loss jab because official obesity measures don’t fit Britain’s ethnic reality, experts warn.
Danielle Jefferies from health think tank the King’s Fund says BMI rules, which decide who gets treatments like Mounjaro, were built around White European and American body data, leaving people from mixed or “other” ethnic backgrounds at a disadvantage.
For Black, Asian and Middle Eastern patients, the NHS lowers the BMI threshold because health risks kick in earlier.
But no such adjustment is made for millions who identify as mixed race, Latino, Hispanic or “other White ethnic groups,” even though their health risks can also spike at lower weights.
“The cut-off point for being obese for people from a White ethnicity is more than a stone heavier than for people from a ‘Black, Asian or Middle Eastern background,” Jefferies said. “That could be significant if that person was sat in a GP appointment asking whether they qualify for bariatric surgery or weight loss drugs, or if they are healthy enough to receive NHS-funded IVF.”
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The NHS will offer Mounjaro to 250,000 people a year for the next 12 years, with strict criteria, including a BMI over 40 in most cases.
But private patients will soon pay far more, the highest dose will rocket from £122 to £330 a month after a global price shake-up by US maker Lilly. The NHS price stays the same.
However, the NICE and the Department of Health have yet to comment.
