The diabetes drug Ozempic will not be available in Belgium until at least the end of June. The drug has been widely used by people who want to lose weight, but this has now been limited to a specific group of people due to a shortage.
The fact that the drug will remain unavailable until June is not unexpected, as Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke already mentioned this in the previously issued Royal Decree.
The decree banned Ozempic as a drug to lose weight, except for those who are morbidly obese (BMI of 35 or more), and people with a BMI of 30 or more combined with other severe weight-related conditions.
Ozempic is used for patients with type 2 diabetes to help regulate their blood sugar levels. Last year, worldwide demand for the drug exploded, because the product is patient-friendly (you have to administer it less frequently than other medication) and it also works as a weight loss medication for non-diabetics.
As demand exceeded supply, there was the threat of shortages for people needing it to treat diabetes. Luckily, there is also an alternative in pill form for diabetics, called Rybelsus. There was a shortage of the pills last year, but stocks have now been replenished.
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For overweight people, there are no alternatives for the time being, as they will have to wait for new products – such as Wegovy and Mounjaro – to come on the market, Professor of Endocrinology Christophe De Block (UZ Antwerpen) told VRT.
"In this way, we have some different options. 15% of people are obese in Belgium, and 7.5% of people have type 2 diabetes. They need to be helped. That is a need and a reality," he said. De Block expects Ozempic's unavailability to continue even beyond June.
