Over a million people with cardiovascular disease are eligible to receive the treatment to help prevent heart attacks and strokes over the next few years.

Helen Williams, national clinical director for cardiovascular disease prevention, NHS England, said: ‘For more than a million people at high risk of heart attack and stroke, this treatment on the NHS could be life-changing – offering a powerful new way to protect their hearts and improve their health.

‘We know that people who have already had a heart attack or stroke face a much higher risk of having another. Used alongside a healthy diet and regular exercise, semaglutide could help prevent thousands of future major cardiovascular events and give many people the chance at a longer and healthier life.'

Semaglutide is already available on the NHS in England as treatment for people with obesity, when offered through specialist weight management services in line with NICE guidance, and Ozempic (another brand name for semaglutide) is widely prescribed by the NHS as a treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.

Clinical trial data has shown that semaglutide reduced the risk of serious heart problems such as heart attacks and strokes by 20% in people with heart and circulatory disease who are overweight compared to placebo.