Around 2.5 million people are using weight loss jabs in the UK, according to a report.
Sales of fat-fighting jabs Mounjaro and Wegovy reached 2.5 million in July, seven times more than the same period last year, according to figures seen by The Telegraph.
The Ozempic-style drugs are set to be made widely available on the NHS under plans drafted by Wes Streeting, but they are currently rare on a free prescription and many people are choosing to go private.
Sales increased by another million between July and August, according to the figures, but experts told the outlet this was largely a result of existing patients stockpiling the drugs after warnings that their cost may jump.
In July, 2.49 million packs of Mounjaro and Wegovy were sold, compared to the 493,000 bought in July 2024.
Mr Streeting warned that the “millions who can’t afford” weight loss jabs are losing out, while the wealthy are able to afford the medicines which could “help us finally defeat obesity”.
“The wealthy talk about how they’ve transformed their health, their confidence, their quality of life. But what about the millions who can’t afford them?” he told the Labour Party conference.
“That is a return to the days when health was determined by wealth. When some had access to the best care money can buy, while others waited and suffered. And I say: never again.”
The popularity of the jabs has soared over the past year as they increasingly become used to tackle obesity. Around four per cent of households in the UK currently use them.
Mounjaro became available on the NHS through GP practices in June this year, as part of plans to roll the jab out to 220,000 patients over the next three years.
Only a handful of the jabs can currently be prescribed for weight loss on the NHS. The criteria for a prescription is also currently strict, despite at least 3.4 million patients being eligible for them on the NHS.
Many Britons are spending hundreds of pounds on purchasing the drugs privately. Boots online pharmacy sells Wegovy’s lowest dosage of 0.25mg a week at £125.10, rising to £206 for the highest dosage of 2.4mg.
Eli Lilly, the owner of Mounjaro, hiked the private prices of jabs in the UK, under pressure from US president Donald Trump.
