On 27 June 2026 the UK government announced 12 projects under the Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme (OPIP), backed by grant funding of up to £50 million from government and up to £35 million from Eli Lilly and Company. The projects, which run until March 2029, will test new ways for people across the UK to access obesity care, from apps and round-the-clock advice on WhatsApp to AI-powered triage.
Innovate UK delivers the programme, working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in partnership with Lilly, and the Department of Health and Social Care co-announced it. Each project is led by an NHS Integrated Care Board or a devolved nation NHS board. OPIP is designed to simplify access to a range of weight loss interventions, including lifestyle support such as nutritionists, psychologists and social prescribing, and, where clinically appropriate, pharmaceutical obesity treatments.
A Strategic Coalition: Public Funding Meets Private Sector Innovation
The funding combines up to £50 million from government with up to £35 million from Lilly. According to the government, Lilly worked with DSIT and Innovate UK on the design and guidelines of the competition but was not involved in assessing, ranking or selecting successful applicants. The programme stems from a memorandum of understanding between the government and Lilly announced in October 2024.
For the UK, the stakes are exceptionally high. The government cites estimates that obesity costs UK society up to £107 billion a year, including more than £9 billion a year for the NHS. Almost one third of adults in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one in four in Wales, live with obesity. By investing in preventative healthcare and advanced therapeutics, the government aims to reduce the burden on public hospitals while supporting patients to lead healthier, more productive lives.
The 12 Projects: Examples
Examples named by the government include:
- Norfolk, Suffolk and north east Essex: AI-assisted triage through a short online health check from home that matches people to the right NHS support, from dietitian advice to specialist clinical care.
- Kent and Medway: round-the-clock AI-powered advice on WhatsApp for up to 3,300 families, from pregnancy through a child's early years.
- Leicester and Northamptonshire: an initial six neighbourhood hubs in places such as community pharmacies or gyms, offering lifestyle advice, apps for adolescents and, where clinically appropriate, weight loss medication.
- Northern Ireland: people can refer themselves and set personal goals with an NHS clinician, without waiting for a GP appointment.
- Wales: for the first time, one clear route into NHS weight management support, in English or Welsh.
Who the Projects Aim to Reach
The government says the programme will focus on groups who face the most difficulty accessing care, including people in deprived rural and coastal communities who often travel long distances for in-person care, minority ethnic communities, people with disabilities and early years families. Medicines are one option among several: the programme covers lifestyle support and, where clinically appropriate, pharmaceutical treatments.
Relevance for Ireland
The programme covers the UK only. What the projects learn about widening access to obesity care, as they run to March 2029, may be of interest to health planners in Ireland and elsewhere.
A Model for Preventative Public Health
By investing in the intersection of digital health and advanced pharmacology, the UK government is signaling a shift toward proactive, preventative medicine. The government links the programme to the 10-Year Health Plan's aim to shift healthcare from treatment to prevention, with care delivered closer to people's homes.
The government says eligible patients will be able to access support through the projects imminently, and that the evidence they generate will inform the future of obesity care across the country. The projects are service pilots, not clinical trials of medicines.
Correction, 2 November 2026: We corrected who funds and runs the programme (up to £50 million from government and up to £35 million from Eli Lilly, delivered by Innovate UK, not the NIHR), corrected the NHS cost of obesity, replaced unsourced project descriptions with the projects the government named, and removed claims that the programme is a set of GLP-1 clinical trials.
