Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Do we need the Government to help fund Wegovy?

From today, Wegovy is available on our shelves so you can get skinny like Oprah, if you want.

But it'll cost you - $500 per month. Which is unaffordable for most people, prompting a debate over whether the Government should fund it to reduce obesity and safe money on obesity-related illnesses and injuries.

Now on principle, this is the kind of thing I'm a fan of - a bit of money upfront to save lots of money later. But unfortunately, as it stands, this wouldn't be an example of saving money.

If we were funding Wegovy like they do in the UK, we'd fund it for people with a BMI over 30. In New Zealand, that is a staggering 1.5 million adults, apparently.

If every one of those adults cost $500 per month, that would cost $7.5 billion per year - but it would only save $2 billion a year in obesity-related healthcare costs.

Now, that's only measuring health costs directly related to obesity. As we know, carrying too much weight makes you prone to illness, which means you take more days off work, making you less productive. So you could also add in the cost of lost productivity across the workforce.

That's around $8 billion, so that takes the cost of obesity to $9.5 billion. But measuring productivity is a guessing game - so you're paying $7.5 billion to maybe save $9.5 billion. Which isn't enough of a saving to take that punt on.

And then you need to factor in that for a lot of people, Wegovy only works while you're on it. When you're off it, you'll start putting the weight back on. So you might fund it for a lot of people, only to end up paying the cost of obesity-related illnesses later on.

Having said that, that's not measuring the cost of a life. We fund a lot of drugs just to keep people alive, so maybe we should fund this to keep people alive.

The good news is - Wegovy comes off its patent in January. Which means copy-cats will be made for much, much cheaper.

Which might change the maths, but for now, if you’re giving it to everyone who might need it, the cost would simply be too much to justify.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Together do the clan right. We're gov. It's on the
shelves from today. You can get yourself skinny like Oprah
if you want to, but it will cost you. I'll
set you back five hundred bucks a month. Now, that
of course is unaffordable for most people, so it's prompted
a debate over whether the government should fund it for
you in a bid to reduce obesity and actually save
money on obesity related illnesses and injuries later on. Now,

(00:22):
on principle, this is the kind of thing I'm a
big fan of. I love putting money up front, a
little bit of money upfront in order to save lots
of money later on. But unfortunately, as it stands, this
wouldn't be an example of saving money. If you were
funding wegov like they do in the UK, you'd fund
it for people with a BMI over thirty. Now, in
New Zealand, that's a lot of people. It's one point

(00:44):
five million adults apparently. Now, if every one of those
adults cost five hundred, five hundred dollars a month, that's
six thousand dollars a year. That would cost the country
seven and a half billion dollars a year. But it
would only save two billion dollars a year in obesity
related healthcare costs. Now, to be fair, that is only
measuring health cost related to obesity. As you know, of course,

(01:05):
there are other costs. If you carry too much weight,
makes you prone to illness, which makes you take days
off work, makes you less productive. So you could also
measure the lost cost of productivity across the workforce. Now
that's about eight billion dollars. So add that to the
cost of healthcare, you've now got let's say nine and
a half billion dollars or thereabouts that you would be saving.
But measuring productivity is a guessing game, right, So you're

(01:27):
paying seven point five billion dollars to maybe save nine
point five billion dollars, which I don't think is enough
of a saving to take a punt on, do you.
Then you have to factor in that for a lot
of people would go the only works when you're on it.
The minute that you're off it, you start putting the
weight back on. Within a year, you've got it all
again if you don't have self discipline, so you might
fund it for a lot of people, only to end

(01:48):
up paying the cost of obesity related illness anyway later on. Now,
Having said all of that, of course, what we're not
measuring here is the cost of a life right, of
a life well lived. And we found a lot of
drug for people just to keep them alive, so maybe
we should do this just to keep people alive. Now,
the good news is that we govi comes off its
patent in January, which means that copycats will be made
for much cheaper, and that may change the maths maybe

(02:11):
next year, maybe the year there after, but for now,
if you're giving it to everyone who might need it,
the cost would simply be too much to justify. For
more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks.
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