PHOTO: SUPPLIEDA leading health academic says Pharmac should not consider wide-scale funding of so-called "miracle" weight-loss drugs until the country has a solid approach to treating obesity. "They are people with heart disease and heart failure, as well as some groups of people with diabetes. "I really think that this thing needs to be looked at as part of a big picture, not just should we fund Wegovy or shouldn’t we fund Wegovy." "The problem that we have in this country now is that we don’t have the opportunity for adequate counselling in primary care. "But if we are saying that these drugs should be used like blood pressure drugs or diabetes drugs or heart disease and cholesterol drugs, I mean, we’ve got years and years and years of experience with those drugs.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 19, 2026 18:55 UTC