Why I welcome new ‘fat jab’

LAST week, NHS health chiefs gave the green light for a new jab, called semaglutide, for obese people who struggle to lose weight.

The weekly injection – which essentially tricks the body into thinking it’s had enough food – has been widely criticised, with some branding it unethical, or dismissing it as a ‘fat jab’.

But I welcome the drug, which GPs like me can soon prescribe to people with obesity-related conditions such as diabetes.

Whether we like it or not, obesity is a major problem, responsible for most of the chronic disease I see in clinic. Most patients have tried every diet under the sun, but nothing has worked.

So any extra tool that we can offer is welcome. And I’d rather this than yet another futile fad diet.