Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix via AFP
A weight loss specialist says reframing obesity as a disease is helping to increase the number of people seeking Wegovy prescriptions.
Health New Zealand provisional data shows that more than 18,000 New Zealanders have been prescribed the weight loss drug in the last three months.
Dr Gerard McQuinlan told Morning Report he prescribed Wegovy which had a "huge" impact on patients almost every week.
"These medications really work. They alter the brain pathways that drive obesity.
"It's been very effective. And for people living with obesity, losing weight is a very good way of becoming quite healthy very quickly," he said.
The large number of people seeking prescriptions showed how obesity was being seen as a disease, rather than a lifestyle choice, and highlighted the need for weight loss drugs, McQuinlan said.
"It's definitely not just about the image, the weight, it's more about health. Obesity is a very important risk factor for other diseases.
"Combating obesity will help reduce the risk for heart disease, cancers, down the line," he said.
Unfunded by Pharmac, Wegovy can cost patients up to $600 a month.
This cost presented a significant barrier to patients seeking the drug, which created a "huge equity problem", he said.
McQuinlan said he wanted the government to look at funding weight loss medications.
"Just like they fund statins for the prevention of heart disease, we would like to see this funded to prevent other diseases such as cancer."
The drug is prescription only, but scripts can be obtained online and emailed to the patient.
McQuinlan said he was concerned by this because it was important to have a discussion about long-term conditions like obesity.
"You have to have a conversation with a doctor, or a nurse practitioner or a nurse prescriber. You have to have a conversation because obesity is a long-term, chronic condition. There's no cure for it."
Starship Children's Hospital paediatric endocrinologist Dr Craig Jefferies told Morning Report drugs like Wegovy could be "life changing" for those with diabetes.
He called for the government to fund Wegovy as a treatment for those with diabetes, and as a preventative medication for those at risk of developing the condition.
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