For many people living with obesity, Wegovy and Mounjaro offer the possibility of substantial weight loss without surgery. Yet data from one private provider points to a troubling divide: prescription rates of these drugs in England are lowest in communities where obesity is most common.

Wegovy contains semaglutide, which acts on the GLP-1 hormone pathway involved in appetite. Mounjaro contains tirzepatide, which targets both GLP-1 and another hormone pathway called GIP. In trials involving adults without diabetes, participants taking semaglutide lost an average of 14.9% of their starting weight after 68 weeks. Those receiving the highest dose of tirzepatide lost an average of 20.9% after 72 weeks. Both trials also provided support with diet and physical activity.

The 2026 analysis of 113,630 patients found that private prescribing rates were 32% lower in England’s most deprived areas than in the least deprived. Once the higher prevalence of obesity in deprived areas was taken into account, the estimated prescribing rate per person living with obesity was 120% higher in the least deprived areas.

The analysis cannot show that cost caused this difference. It covered one provider and estimated deprivation from patients’ postcodes rather than their individual incomes. It also examined access rather than treatment outcomes.

Even so, the findings bring a difficult question into focus: while NHS access to these treatments is still being rolled out, does the ability to pay influence who can access treatment........

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