NICE - NHS - Priorities

 I keep my powder dry most of the time these days for fear of all the reactions and Wokery.  One can actually offend without being aware that one is doing so.

I am fuming at what I see as total unfairness.  It has just been announced that there is a drug which can be helpful with Altzheimers - not a cure but a step in the right direction.  NICE - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has decreed that this will not be available on the NHS because the benefit doesn't justify the cost.

Why I'm angry is that obese people are to be given Ozempic to curb their appetites.  As far as I know they are not being asked to make any effort to lose weight before being given the drug.  I also don't know the cost but there are so many obese people in the UK, even if the drug is not pricey, the total sum will soon add up.  Of course there are the side effects of obesity such as diabetes, joint wear and a shortening of life span.  

I feel genuinely sorry for the few people who are overweight and obese through no fault of their own who should be given every help possible. 

When I was a young reporter in the West Country, I was sent to interview a Doctor who had run an experiment to take weight off the inhabitants of a certain village.  He reported many hundredweights of loss and that is why it was a news story.  I was very sympathetic to the villagers and said so - I shall never forget his reply.  He said that in all but a few cases the problem was the 'ever open mouth'.  The stomach is a balloon and the more you give it the more it wants.

The blame lies in many directions - Fast food manufacturers with their advertising; lack of nutritional education in schools; lack of cookery classes in schools etc.  and the culture of Fast Food which came from America - like so many of the bad influences in the last few decades.  Apparently we have the most obesity in Europe and are catching up with America.  Nothing of which to be proud.

It might not sound like a lot but I've been around 8 stones all my adult life apart from being in Australia and on tour with a group of players.  I came back from the tour just under 10 stones - too much hospitality from lovely people who billeted us.  I tried many diets and then changed my approach to food.  It took me a few years to lose the weight I'd put on in only 7 months.

Obesity in the majority of cases is something which the patient has actively caused - Altzheimers is a disease which can afflict anyone - it's not self inflicted.  That is why I think it is so unfair of NICE - how inappropriately named.  Nothing could be further from Nice - Nasty would be more appropriate.