A DECISION on whether weight-loss drugs will be publicly funded in Jersey remains on hold – seven months after it was due and more than three years after the UK first made injectable obesity medicines available on the NHS.
Confirmation on whether Jersey would follow the UK in allowing doctors providing publicly funded care to prescribe GLP-1 agonists – such as Ozempic or Mounjaro – for weight loss purposes was due by the end of last year.
The UK first made modern injectable weight loss drugs publicly available on the NHS in March 2023, following guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The JEP sought an update from the Government of Jersey after the latest version of its prescribed medicines list stated that semaglutide, known as Wegovy, is not reimbursed under the Health Insurance Fund and can only be prescribed privately.
The document also confirmed that tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, is funded only for eligible patients with type 2 diabetes. For all other uses, including weight management, it must be prescribed privately.
But the government said that this does not represent the final position of the Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee – Jersey’s expert body that recommends medicines for public subsidy by evaluating clinical effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness to decide if government funding should apply.
A government spokesperson said: “The Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee has deferred a final decision on the reimbursement of GLP-1 medicines for obesity while work continues to develop future weight management services in Jersey.”
They added that international guidance and clinical evidence showed the medicines achieved the best outcomes when combined with wider support, including dietary changes, increased physical activity and behavioural interventions.
“The Government of Jersey is working with clinical experts, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders to develop an appropriate weight management pathway for the Island. This work is ongoing to ensure any future arrangements are clinically effective, safe and sustainable.
“The Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee has not yet reached a final decision regarding the reimbursement of GLP-1 medicines for obesity. The committee will consider the matter further once this work has been completed.”
The JEP asked for a target date for completing the weight-management pathway or for PBAC reaching a final decision on weight-loss drugs, but no timetable was provided.
Instead, the government said only that: “PBAC will continue to follow the development of this work closely, with any decisions being made through the appropriate governance processes.”
Earlier this year, the JEP revealed that PBAC had postponed a decision which had originally been expected by the end of 2025 because Jersey does not yet have a formal weight-management service.
Obesity advocate Sarah Le Brocq, who grew up in Jersey and now advises nationally on obesity policy, said the delay was “hugely frustrating” and risked entrenching inequality in access to care.
“Right now, if Islanders can afford weight-loss medication, they can get access to it – but if they can’t, then they’ve got nothing,” she said.
Ms Le Brocq, founder and director of UK not-for-profit All About Obesity, called for obesity to be treated as a long-term medical condition rather than simply a lifestyle issue.
“We need to start managing obesity like the long-term chronic condition that it is, like we do with asthma and diabetes,” she said.
“What concerns me in Jersey is that this not happening, so people are still being left to fend for themselves.”
Figures published in the government’s latest public health report show that more than 8,600 GLP-1 receptor agonist prescriptions were dispensed in 2025 alone – including over 6,000 items of semaglutide and 2,600 of tirzepatide.
