This wouldn’t be for anyone wanting to lose a few kilos here and there. This would be for people who are obese and at risk of serious health complications. Around 200 potentially serious health complications, actually. Such as Type 2 Diabetes.
I think it’s a no-brainer. Because we have the third-highest adult obesity rate in the OECD, which is a problem for all of us.
Even those of us with the metabolism of a racehorse. Because, with the health complications that come with obesity, we all end up paying.
Whether it be in a financial sense as taxpayers or as users of the health system seeing waiting times blow out because of the demand for treatment. Because of the impact of obesity on the health system.
The fact that Pharmac is even considering giving these weight loss drugs the time of day is brilliant. It now needs to ignore the naysayers and get on with it.
And there will be naysayers. The people in the personal responsibility brigade who look at every overweight person and think they’ve got no control.
You know: “They’re all just a bunch of lardies who eat KFC every day. And why the hell should us taxpayers pay for that lot to get a magic potion because they can’t say no. Because they’ve got no self-control. Haven’t they heard of personal responsibility?” Blah blah blah.
The funny thing is, you don’t hear this lot ripping-into people with high blood pressure. Or people with heart disease. Or even people with cancer.
You don’t hear the personal responsibility crew saying those people shouldn’t be on Pharmac’s funding list. Because, if you apply the logic they apply to obese people, the exact same thing could be said.
That someone who smokes, for example, shouldn’t get their blood pressure pills funded by the taxpayer or someone who smokes and gets cancer shouldn’t get medications that might save or extend their life.
Obesity is a disease just like any other disease. A disease people have because of genetics or hormonal issues or psychological issues. It’s way more complicated than just how much food someone eats.
Which is why we need to accept that, if these drugs are a genuine option for people who have no way of losing significant amounts of weight and no other way of avoiding serious conditions like Type 2 Diabetes, then why wouldn’t we fund weight loss drugs for them?
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
Even those of us with the metabolism of a racehorse. Because, with the health complications that come with obesity, we all end up paying.
Whether it be in a financial sense as taxpayers or as users of the health system seeing waiting times blow out because of the demand for treatment. Because of the impact of obesity on the health system.
The fact that Pharmac is even considering giving these weight loss drugs the time of day is brilliant. It now needs to ignore the naysayers and get on with it.
And there will be naysayers. The people in the personal responsibility brigade who look at every overweight person and think they’ve got no control.
You know: “They’re all just a bunch of lardies who eat KFC every day. And why the hell should us taxpayers pay for that lot to get a magic potion because they can’t say no. Because they’ve got no self-control. Haven’t they heard of personal responsibility?” Blah blah blah.
The funny thing is, you don’t hear this lot ripping-into people with high blood pressure. Or people with heart disease. Or even people with cancer.
You don’t hear the personal responsibility crew saying those people shouldn’t be on Pharmac’s funding list. Because, if you apply the logic they apply to obese people, the exact same thing could be said.
That someone who smokes, for example, shouldn’t get their blood pressure pills funded by the taxpayer or someone who smokes and gets cancer shouldn’t get medications that might save or extend their life.
Obesity is a disease just like any other disease. A disease people have because of genetics or hormonal issues or psychological issues. It’s way more complicated than just how much food someone eats.
Which is why we need to accept that, if these drugs are a genuine option for people who have no way of losing significant amounts of weight and no other way of avoiding serious conditions like Type 2 Diabetes, then why wouldn’t we fund weight loss drugs for them?
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
2 comments:
Never mind that it stops working after a couple of years and if you haven’t figured out how to care for yourself properly you’re stuffed.
Never mind the cultural differences that result in many Samoans being obese because that is genuinely beautiful in Samoan culture but might also result in doctors pushing this drug onto a bunch of folks at great cost to taxpayers.
Never mind that these drugs come with their own serious health risks such as thyroid cancer (& I even know a person who developed this as a result of taking ozempic) not low odds - real odds.
Great it lowers the risks of other obesity related illnesses and lifestyle diseases but it’s a costly temporary fix.
It’s not brilliant, it’s idiocy. Far better to make those who choose to live sedentary lifestyles & eat poorly, pay into health insurance. That way they can pay for their own inevitable health complications.
If the author or the govt or anyone in the media was serious about lowering NZ’s appalling obesity, heart disease, diabetes & bowel cancer rates, they would be going hard against manufacturers peddling the drug that is ultra processed rubbish.
NZH even posted an article mocking RFK’s food pyramid - something those of us who understand nutrition have been trying to promote for years.
Obesity is not a disease & it is not genetic, it is a choice. The real reason it continues to get worse is because there is no money a healthy population - far better to keep us sick & poor by encouraging us to eat junk instead of real food our grandparents recognised, & force us into consuming more drugs to mask the consequences.
Weight loss drugs do nothing for your health - whether skinny or fat, if you don’t eat well & don’t exercise you are at serious risk of suffering heart disease, diabetes & cancer over what will inevitably be a much shorter & more miserable life. Visceral fat is determined by what you eat & how much you move, not by what you weigh.
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