IN the world of UK health politics it’s now deemed cheaper to give nearly a million diabetes patients free weight-loss surgery than it is to leave them overweight and a burden to the NHS.

And this comes when we see regular headlines about the latest life-prolonging cancer drug not being made available to sufferers because the NHS can’t afford it..

The call by health watchdog NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) to consider obese people for a gastric band or gastric bypass at a cost of £5,000 each would cause a storm of protest under normal circumstances. But this comes at a time when the NHS is on its financial knees so perhaps outrage is understandable.

Probably even more damaging is the message it sends out to those whose lifestyle choices make them overweight: eat and drink as much as you like, mate, and don’t worry about the health consequences because we’ve got an op for that.

Where on earth is the incentive to eat healthily, exercise and look after yourself when free surgery beckons as a possible cure-all?

There doesn’t even seem to be evidence that the surgical procedure is the answer to obesity. We read with alarming frequency about people who have found ways of getting around the results of such surgery, and who return to their former weight or near it after resuming their previously unhealthy eating habits.

Even groups like the National Obesity Forum don’t think widespread surgery is a good idea because the country simply cannot afford it.

It’s true that obesity has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, and that there are now soaring rates of Type 2 diabetes which is often - although not always - linked to lifestyle choices. And this can signal a raft of health problems that do impact on our health services, both now and in the future.

But we’re not far away from a situation when we won’t be able to afford enough midwives for our hospitals, or treatment to save children with life-threatening conditions because we’ve spent the money on weight-loss surgery.

I know being obese is often linked to other complex personal problems  that should be address. But I still know where I’d want my hard-earned money spent right now.