THE cost of drugs to tackle Scotland's spiralling obesity crisis has shot up by hundreds of thousands of pounds in the past year, as more doctors resort to pills to reduce the nation's waistlines.
The NHS bill for prescriptions to treat the life-threatening condition has risen by £770,000 to £4.89 million, according to figures released yesterday, with patients in the west of Scotland the biggest consumers.
Last night, politicians and health
experts said the figures showed a worrying increase in our sedentary lifestyle and poor diet, and called for more government help to tackle the crisis.
According to the Scottish Government, 9,500 people over the age of 12 make daily use of the drugs, which work by either suppressing the appetite or preventing the body absorbing fat. Drugs dispensed in hospitals are not included in the figures.
Each patient costs the NHS more than £500 a year, and in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, there are almost 3,000 of them.
One GP warned he had yet to see any evidence that the drugs provide a long-lasting solution.
Dr Dean Marshall, who practises in Dalkeith, Midlothian, said: "If we are going to use them, we have to see clear evidence that they actually work and, in my own experience, I have yet to see that evidence that they lead to a long-term loss of weight."
He said the drugs would be used only on patients who had already explored other options, such as taking advice and seeing a dietician.
"These drugs are given to people who have got extreme problems – it's not just the average person who is overweight," he said. "These people are significantly overweight. Many have other illnesses like diabetes, so we are dealing with the particularly difficult cases."
In 2006-7, a total of 104,274 obesity-drug prescriptions were dispensed, an increase of 14,404 on the previous financial year. The cost per head of the population has risen from 4p in 1998-9 to £1.01 in 2006-7 – although ten out of the 14 Scottish health boards spend more than this.
The health board most likely to hand out pills is Western Isles, where 0.35 per cent of over-12s, or 80 people, receive them. In the Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire health board areas, 0.27 per cent of the population – 2,800 and 1,300 people respectively – are given the drugs.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde put its high numbers down to the large area it serves. A spokeswoman said: "The rise in the prescribing of weight-loss drugs shows more patients are seeking treatment for weight management, but also reflects the growing concern over obesity rates. We are working with our partners to reverse the obesity explosion through environmental and lifestyle changes."
Richard Simpson, Labour's public-health spokesman, said the figures indicated a "worrying trend of increasing rates of obesity due to our sedentary lifestyle and poor diet" and demonstrated the need for the SNP to renew its commitment to invest in schemes to combat obesity and promote sport.
But he said it also showed the NHS making use of effective new treatments – which had to be combined with education.
Mary Scanlon, for the Tories, said the figures showed "a failure in terms of support" and claimed when some patients asked for help, they were "often told to go and join WeightWatchers".
Shona Robison, the public-health minister, said the government realised obesity was "an increasing problem and poses a serious threat to health".
She said it would be investing £56.5 million – £40 million in new money – in initiatives to tackle obesity, healthy eating and physical activity. They will be included in an obesity action-plan due for release this spring.
She said the government had a role in education but, for some people, advice and exercise would not have any effect. "In such cases, a clinical decision to prescribe drugs, based on the specific health interests of the patient, may be the most appropriate step to take," she said.
HEAVYWEIGHT DRUGSTHE three drugs which can be prescribed in Scotland to tackle obesity are:
Orlistat, also known as Xenical, was introduced in October 1998, and is an anti-obesity drug which acts on the gastro-intestinal tract, inhibiting the absorption of dietary fat.
Sibutramine, or Reductil, was introduced in June 2001.
A centrally-acting appetite suppressant the drug inhibits the re-uptake of noradrenaline and seratonin – mood-enhancing chemicals naturally produced by the body, which stimulate the appetite.
Rimonabant, or Acomplia, was introduced in February 2007, and is also an appetite suppressant that acts centrally.
The full article contains 787 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
