ReutersHealth Secretary Wes Streeting has dismissed suggestions that plans to provide weight loss jabs to unemployed people with obesity are "dystopian".The UK government is launching a five-year trial with pharmaceutical giant Lilly to test if the weight-loss drug Mounjaro can help get more people back to work and ease the strain on the NHS in England by preventing obesity-related diseases.The announcement prompted a backlash, with accusations that the government was stigmatising unemployed individuals and reducing people to their economic value.Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said the jabs were part of a broader healthcare plan, adding that he was "not interested in some dystopian future where I involuntarily jab unemployed people who are overweight"."There's a lot of evidence already that these jabs combined with changes to diet and exercise can help people to reduce their weight but also prevent cardiovascular disease and also diabetes which is game-changing," Streeting said.But he cautioned against creating a "dependency culture".Some injections are already prescribed on the NHS for the treatment of obesity, and also for people with diabetes.Illnesses relating to obesity cost the NHS £11bn a year, Streeting said.Obesity has also been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes, with the NHS spending around £10bn a year - 9% of its budget - to care for people with diabetes.The NHS's latest Health Survey for England shows in 2022, 29% of adults in England were obese and 64% were deemed to be overweight.Streeting said he was expecting "demand" for new weight-loss drugs to outstrip NHS supplies. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously told the BBC the jabs would be "very helpful" to people who want and need to lose weight."[The drug is] very important for our NHS, because, yes we need more money for the NHS, but we've also got to think differently".Prof Simon Capewell, an expert in public health at Liverpool University, called the plans "unethical," saying they target people for economic reasons "rather than prioritising the person's own interests and health".Obesity expert Dr Dolly van Tulleken said, besides the "serious ethical, financial, and efficacy considerations," the plans were also unrealistic.The eligible population for this plan was "in the millions" with specialist weight management services only able to treat 49,000 per year, Dr Van Tuelleken said.Previous plan "looking at people, or measuring people based on their potential economic value, rather than primarily based on their needs and their health needs" had gone down "very badly" in the past, she told BBC Radio 4' Today programme.Streeting defended the government's decision to test the economic impact of weight loss drugs."If we can throw the trends we are seeing in obesity into reverse that's better for the health of the nation," Streeting said.Improved public health is al ...