Anti-obesity injections could be game changer for Scotland’s health crisis
People in deprived areas will get access to life-changing weight-loss jags.
Obesity affects one in three Scots and places a huge strain on the public purse. The impact on the NHS is obvious and the health implications of being overweight also keep people off work.
Encouraging people to live healthy lives, whether that is eating better, drinking less or going to the gym, have been staple public health messages for years.
But the development of anti-obesity injections could be the game changer Scotland needs to tackle the crisis.
Millions of people across the UK are paying for weight-loss jags and some of the transformations people have made are incredible.
But the roll-out on the NHS has been slow. So we welcome the UK Government funding a pilot project to give thousands of Scots in deprived areas access to anti-obesity injections.
If jags work, there is no justification for these medications only being available to people who can afford to pay. Critics will understandably raise concerns about the cost to the NHS of giving out these injections.
There is also a good argument to be made that the traditional ways of losing weight are best. There is a clear link between poverty, ill-health and obesity that needs radical government action to tackle.
But the fact remains that obesity is a major problem for society right now and these drugs could help. We need creative and innovative ways to tackle this scourge.
As Labour minister Dr Zubir Ahmed has said, the link between poverty and obesity is undeniable. Rolling out anti-obesity injections to Scots in poorer areas seems like social justice in action.
Real world royals
We report today how King Charles decided to strip his brother Andrew of all royal titles after being heckled over the wayward prince at a public engagement.
The anonymous heckler deserves a hearty thank you from the nation for finally prompting action on the newly renamed Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
His close friendship with the shamed sex offender Jeffrey Epstein brought shame on himself and the Royal Family.
The King should have acted earlier. It may be the case that Andrew’s titles are being removed to protect the monarchy from further damage when new revelations occur.
But whatever the motivations, it is the right decision.
It should be the start of a process of creating a new “slimmed-down” monarchy where only those with a proper function are kept on the payroll.
The others should be forced to go out into the real world and get a job like the rest of us.