On Sunday (12th March) The Observer ran an article claiming that the ASO and other organisations in the obesity space had received ‘donations’ from Novo Nordisk which were directly linked to our positive appraisal of Semaglutide for managing overweight and obesity in a recent NICE consultation. This allegation is completely false.
The ASO is the UK’s leading charitable organisation dedicated to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of obesity. We strongly believe that people living with obesity deserve evidence-based treatment options and that we need to move away from the simple ‘eat less, move more’ UK narrative which contributes towards the stigmatisation of people living with obesity.
Like many other organisations, the ASO has received sponsorship / grants from industry in order to further its work in improving research and education to improve outcomes for people with obesity. The ASO did receive monies from Novo Nordisk as cited in the article. However, this was subject to our strict sponsorship guidelines which means that we only accept funding for specific and clearly-defined activities (from both commercial and non-commercial third parties) – in this case for our annual conference (2021) and a series of educational webinars. Any third party which provides sponsorship or grants to the ASO has no influence on our decisioning making or any editorial control.
As a registered charity, we are obliged to seek funding from a broad and disparate range of potential contributors to ensure that the organisation’s independence is maintained. Our polices and practices are continually evaluated and reviewed.