Current rules leave door open for medicines to be supplied without appropriate patient consultation, association says

Pharmacies are demanding tougher regulation of the online sale of weight-loss jabs amid a predicted new year’s boom in demand.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), who represent independent community pharmacies, urged the regulator to require greater consultation with patients before dispensing weight-loss jabs and other high-risk medication online.

Research into the disease has never been more far-reaching, but there is little consensus as to what is causing the rocketing rates of diagnosis in young adults

In 2022, around 16% of the 20 million people with cancer worldwide were under 50. Cancer has always been markedly more of an older person’s disease, says Lynn Turner, director of research at Worldwide Cancer Research. But between 1990 and 2019, the incidence of the disease in under-50s rose by 79%, according to research published in the British Medical Journal in 2023. That short timeframe means the rise cannot be explained by genetic factors, according to Tracey Woodruff, director of the University of California, San Francisco’s programme on reproductive health and the environment.

Many of these “early-onset” cases are happening in wealthier countries, says Kathryn Bradbury, senior research fellow at the University of Auckland’s school of population health. The rates are striking because younger populations are mainly non-smokers, says Mary Beth Terry, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. About two-thirds of cancers in under-50s occur in women, she adds.

As the public rejoice at shedding weight, the likes of Wegovy seem to be controlling other bad habits – in particular drinking to excess

‘My alcohol in­take has plummeted,” says Hannah. “Since taking Wegovy I hardly ever crave a drink when I get home. When I used to go out with friends, I was nearly always the last one standing; now I’m leaving two hours before closing.”

In her early 30s, the Londoner is among the rapidly growing number of people turning to weight loss injections such as Wegovy and Mounjaro. The results have been dramatic – she has shed four stone (25kg) in little over six months.