Millions of people ‘could be denied weight-loss jabs due to flawed NHS guidance’

Millions of people were able to be denied access to treatments such as weight loss because of directives, failing the NHS, warned a large reflection group.

King’s fund The main analyst Danielle Jefferies said that measures in the body mass index (BMI), which are used to determine the levels of obesity, are mainly based On research for white Europeans or Americans.

This means that they do not take into account ethnic differences inherited from people from the black, Asian, brown, double or native Ethnic groups – The differences that can mean certain groups are more likely to develop certain health conditions.

The 2021 census for England and Wales showed that 1.3 million people have listed as “others” for their ethnic group, while 1.7 million people listed in “mixed or multiple” categories.

Jefferies said that this meant that the current BMI thresholds “potentially do not work entirely up to 3 million people in the United Kingdom”, which means that they could lack treatments because they have a BMI lower than that necessary for certain treatments.

The warning comes while the NHS should deploy access to the weight loss jab, Mounjaro, to 250,000 patients per year in the next 12 years.

Access to Mounjaro is based on strict measures, especially that a person has a BMI over 40 years of age. And other NHS treatments, such as IVF, bariatric surgery and joint replacement surgery, are also managed on the basis of a person’s BMI.

Currently, BMI directives for people from black, Asian and Middle East are lowered to take into account the health risks that occur in a BMI lower than that of whites. But the same is not done for those of these mixed heritage groups.

Jeffries said: “Current directives Nice adopt a wide brush approach by recommending lower BMI thresholds for anyone of” black, Asian or Middle Oriental “, which actually includes almost all those who are not” white “.

“It creates knotty problems. Firstly, because that lets some people wonder if they are “white enough” to use the old thresholds, which is a subjective and problematic means of categorizing people from the world’s majority ethnic environments. “

“For example, does that include people who identify themselves as Latino, the White Middle East or the Hispanic?” Or does that include someone who is mixed and who has a grandparent who is black or Asian and the rest white? ”

Ms. Jefferies said that the NHS BMI calculator automatically gives patients who identify themselves as “another white ethnic group”, for example, someone who could identify as Latino, a higher threshold as if they were white.

She said it may have “real consequences” and include or exclude an ethnic group of the threshold adaptation could “have a significant impact on the national obesity figures and change the way we measure health inequalities between different ethnic groups”.

“For individuals, the lower BMI thresholds could change their life. For adults in average height, the cutting point to be obese for people from a white ethnic group is more than a heavier stone than for people of a black, Asian or the Middle East. bariatric surgery Or Weight loss drugsor if they are in fairly good health to receive IVF funded by the NHS,She added.

Thursday, it was revealed that the price of Mounjaro will almost triple For private patients in the United Kingdom, after society belonging to the United States equalized market costs around the world.

One month of supply of the highest doses of “King Kong“Weight loss drugs will drop from £ 122 to £ 330 – an increase of 170%. However, the manufacturer of drugs Lilly said that he would not increase the price paid by the NHS, and he worked with private health care providers to maintain access to the JAB.

Nice and the Department of Health and Social Services have been approached for comments.