A Freedom of Information (FOI) request lodged with the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) has revealed 11,600 people should meet the criteria for tirzepatide prescriptions over the next few years.
Tirzepatide, better known by the brand name Mounjaro, is a type of medication known as a GLP-1 agonist.
Mounjaro is taken as a once-weekly injection (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire)
The drug – typically taken as a once-weekly injection – reduces the user’s appetite which helps them to lose weight.
It can also be used as a treatment for patients with type two diabetes.
It was approved for use as a weight management medication in the UK in November 2023 and it has been sold widely by private pharmacies since then.
Thousands of people who struggle with their weight will be eligible for Mounjaro (Image: Chris Radburn/PA Wire)
A new study by University College London has found that around 1.6 million UK adults took a weight loss medication between early 2024 and early 2025, and Mounjaro was among the most popular options.
Other well-known GLP-1 antagonists include Wegovy and Ozempic, which contain another drug called semaglutide.
The drug has been made widely available through private pharamcies (Image: Faye Minton)
Who is eligible for Mounjaro on the NHS?
In June 2025, the NHS began a phased roll-out of Mounjaro prescriptions.
To be eligible for Cohort One of the NHS roll-out in England, patients must have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more and be diagnosed with four or more “qualifying” weight-related conditions.
These conditions include type two diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnoea, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
The criteria will change slightly as the roll-out moves into phases two and three in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
The FOI showed 2,700 locals are tipped to be eligible for Cohort Two, which requires a BMI of 35-39.9 and four or more qualifying conditions, and 7,700 people should be eligible for Cohort Three, which will require a BMI of 40 or more and three qualifying conditions.
The data also revealed how many people across Norfolk and Waveney are living with some of the most common weight-related conditions, demonstrating the impact extra weight is having on the population.
A total of 356,467 people have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or abnormal blood fats, sleep apnoea, heart disease or type two diabetes.
To break this down further, 173,025 people have one of these conditions, 124,294 have two, 49,434 have three, 9,174 have four and 542 people live with all five.
When will Mounjaro be available on the NHS?
Last summer, the NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB announced it would manage the delivery of tirzepatide prescriptions to local people via a “community-based service”.
GPs and pharmacists who are “ready and resourced” to prescribe have been permitted to do so since June – but the community-based service intended to be responsible for most prescriptions was not earmarked to launch until “late 2025”.
A spokeswoman for the ICB has now confirmed this has been pushed back until March.
The NHS roll-out began last June (Image: Faye Minton)
“Initially, we had anticipated that the new community-based service would be available to patients by the end of 2025,” she explained.
“National structural changes within the ICBs and the formation of a new Norfolk and Suffolk ICB from April 2026 mean that we have needed some additional time to harmonise our commissioning plans with those in Suffolk.
“Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) ICB, which currently oversees health commissioning for Suffolk, has crafted an innovative integrated model for weight management and complex obesity, including community access to tirzepatide.
“We are working hard to have the new community-based service for tirzepatide up and running by the end of March 2026.”