Weight-loss drugs could halve sickness absence and significantly reduce the strain on the NHS, research suggests.

A UK study of patients who received GLP-1 jabs for nine months found sickness days fell by nearly half and sickness absence lasting five days or more fell by more than 50%. Analysis of the findings suggests expanding access could cut A&E attendance by obese patients by a quarter and free up nearly 10m GP appointments.

The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, assessed 1,270 NHS patients on Oviva’s tier 3 weight management programme. All were prescribed GLP-1 injections for their weight alongside at least three weight-related illnesses, most commonly anxiety, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

The majority took semaglutide (either Wegovy for weight loss or Ozempic for type 2 diabetes). After nine months, they lost an average of 12.4% of their body weight, while patients’ average BMI fell from 45 to 39. Sick days among those that took the jabs fell by 45%, while there was a 56% reduction in long-term sick leave, classed as absences of five days or more.

Patients also did not need to see a GP as often. Face-to-face appointments dropped by an average of 43% and remote consultations by 48%. More than 60% said they did not contact their GP at all. A separate study of 738 patients who were prescribed the jabs found A&E visits among the group fell by one quarter.

With about 30% of adults in England classed as obese, experts said if the programme were expanded to the 3.4 million people currently eligible for weight-loss jabs on the NHS, it could free up nearly 10m GP appointments every year, saving the health service about £364m a year – equivalent to almost 3% of the GP core budget.

Martin Fidock, the UK managing director of Oviva, a provider of digital healthcare services, said: “Britain is in the grip of a productivity crisis, and obesity is one of the biggest drivers. Our data shows that when people get the right treatment – jabs combined with proper clinical support – they don’t just lose weight. They get back to work, stop relying on their GP and start living again.”

Dr Charlotte Refsum, the director of policy at the Tony Blair Institute, said the findings were “striking”.

“Broader access to anti-obesity medications could deliver significant gains for the economy alongside major savings for the NHS,” she added. “This study brings that to life in the real world – showing not just substantial weight loss, but fewer GP visits and more people staying in work.”

Separately, two Danish studies, also presented at the conference, suggested the drugs had a beneficial impact on asthma and migraines. Researchers found patients with asthma and overweight, obesity or type 2 diabetes who took semaglutide or liraglutide had a 26% reduction in the number of asthma exacerbations – including hospitalisations, compared with the year before and a 14% reduction in the use of asthma inhalers and daily inhaled corticosteroid exposure by 23%.

Pneumonia events were also reduced by 10%, The effects were found within a month of starting GLP-1s, before significant weight loss had occurred.The second study found 18- 35-year-olds receiving Wegovy for weight management was associated with a 18% reduction in the use of acute migraine triptan medication. Further studies were needed to establish the dose effect and if similar findings could be replicated for other GLP-1s.