Editorial Issue 8: New Weight Loss Drugs Fight Obesity While Millions Go Hungry

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Are you struggling to lose weight? Are fad diets just not working for you? Well you’re in luck because a new weight loss drug has just hit the market, taking the internet by storm! Chances are your favourite TikTok health influencer has already plugged it in one of their videos. Hell, even Elon Musk has endorsed it, and it may be the secret to how Kim Kardashian managed to slip into Marilyin Monroe’s dress. 

First developed by the Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk as a drug to treat type-2 diabetes, Semalgitude originally sold under the name Ozempic has now been approved by both the FDA  and EMA – the American and European institutions regulating medicine – as an anti-obesity drug. This new drug sold under the name Wegovy contains a higher dose of Semalgitude than Ozempic and like Ozempic is administered by injection. Wegovy purportedly “reduces food intake by lowering appetite and slowing down digestion in the stomach, helping to [...] reduce hunger, food craving and body fat.” Semalgitude-based drugs will not be the only new arrivals to the anti-obesity market either. Eli-Lilly, America’s leading insulin manufacturer, hope to have their Tirzepatide type-2 diabetes treatment, sold under the trade name Manjouro, FDA approved for treating weight-loss as well by summer. 

The market for these diabetes and anti-obesity drugs (collectively known as glp-1 agonists) is extremely lucrative and growing, contrary to the effect these drugs are slated to have on people’s waistlines. Novo-Nordisk’s Wegovy sales in America alone are estimated to reach $3bn-4bn this year and the glp-1 agonist market as a whole is expected to grow to the dizzying market value of over $150bn by 2031.

Obesity, however, is not simply a problem for the rich, nor those in the public eye. In fact, obesity is most prevalent in everyday society, especially amongst deprived communities. 

In 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes 39% of adults—approximately 1.9 billion people—were overweight, of which 650 million were obese. An individual is defined as obese when their BMI (body mass index) exceeds 30. While BMI is not a perfect measurement—it can, for example, fail to take account for muscle mass—it acts as a good guide to the extent of the problem.

The growing prevalence of obesity has led many to call it an epidemic, especially in the UK where 30,000 obesity-related deaths occur every year, costing the National Health Service (NHS) an approximate £500 million per annum. In 2001, weight-related health complications had an estimated human cost of 18 million sick days a year; this is an especially worrying prospect for a country struggling to get people back to work. The yearly cost of this on the economy is thought to be £2 billion.

The prevalence of obesity is highest amongst deprived groups—children from deprived parts of the UK are more than twice as likely to be obese compared to their peers in more affluent areas. This disparity is driving health inequalities amongst already divergent economic groups, and is likely to have damaging consequences for social mobility. 

By 2025 the World Obesity Federation predicts that 47% of Mexicans, 46% of South Africans and 42% of Malaysians will be obese. Just as obesity poses a problem for the British healthcare system and working population, it will likely be the same for these countries, but with the added complication of malnutrition.

Obesity is clearly a mutual problem, both for the health of the individual, and the health of the wider economy. The tax burden on public healthcare systems and the cost of sick days is damaging for economic growth. A drug—like semaglutide—which could miraculously cure, or at least reduce, obesity levels would be of significant benefit to the world economy: reducing the burden on state healthcare infrastructure and boosting the participation rate of working age populations. In developing countries, while it is unable to solve the issue of food poverty, such drugs could lift millions out of poverty. And in high-income countries, these drugs could also aid social mobility.

But access is a problem: these drugs don’t come cheap. For one individual, the cost of taking Wegovy is around $1,300 per month in America, and Ozempic around $900. These are figures that many countries will struggle to afford, and the widespread use of such new drugs could also have far-reaching implications.

For those who still depend on semaglutide to treat their diabetes, the growing popularity of the drug is limiting its availability. Many diabetics have struggled to get their insulin refills due to lack of stock across the US, which causes immense stress for the patients as they depend on insulin to survive. 

What’s more, fears are beginning to grow surrounding the impacts the drugs may have on people with eating disorders or disordered eating habits. There is a concern that doctors could prescribe patients with semaglutide to aid weight loss without prior knowledge of their eating habits. If the drug was prescribed to someone with an eating disorder, such as atypical anorexia- where the individual has all the symptoms of anorexia but is not underweight, it could drastically worsen their relationship with food and consequently their health. 

Scientists also note that once patients stop taking semaglutides, they will regain the weight they lost. This could result in restrictive eating to maintain body size, or a life-long dependence on weight-loss drugs. Either way, it is likely users of the drug either begin their weight-loss journey or finish it being fixated on their body image. 

The nature of 21st century life has certainly normalised obsessing over our appearance and how we are perceived, but it should not dictate our health. For some, living in a larger body type does lead to health complications, such as diabetes and heart disease, whereas others are simply built that way and are at their healthiest weight already. Social media trends create the perfect aesthetical landscape for how we ‘should’ look but creating a culture dependent on medicine for ‘looking your best’ or reaching your ‘perfect summer body’ could lead to drug abuse and serious physical and mental health complications. 

Darker still is what this reveals about western society: we have such an abundance of food and such a tendency to overconsume that our only hope now is to turn to medicine for a solution. This is our reality, yet millions of people across the globe have no or limited access to any source of food. 

Obesity is a serious problem, and any medical leap forward we can make to prolonging life should be embraced- but our appreciation for life, and our source of it, should be shared across the globe. No person should feel pressure to limit, should have their access limited or have a limited life because of food. 

Editorial Contributors: Alex McQuibban, Kate Peacock, Conor Walsh