London: A new drug, which fights obesity by preventing food cravings, is to be made available to British patients through the country’s National Health Service.

The drug called Acomplia, is made by a French company and can cut bodyweight by up to 10 per cent in a year and significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The pill, which costs £2 a day, acts on the brain and reduces appetite and assists in loss of abdominal fat. It is licenses for those who are medically obese but will be prescribed to those who are overweight with type 2 diabetes. It will also only be given to failed dieters and exercisers.

Tests of the drug showed that 40 per cent of users lost 10 per cent of their body weight, incuding from around the waist.

In trials when overweight people took a daily 20 mg pill, up to 40 per cent of them lost 10 per cent of their body weight, much of it from around their waist, which cuts the risk of diabetes and heart problems.

The pill works by interfering with a system in the body that controls energy levels, regulates body weight plus breaks down sugars and fats.

Britain is the first country to have the drug, but manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis hopes to sell it in the USA once it wins approval from American FDA