Diabetes patients are struggling to access some medicines amid shortages and growing demand for diabetes drugs used for weight loss.
Some patients and their families say medicines that were previously easy to find have become harder to obtain as more people turn to them for weight loss.
This follows a warning by the Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council this week over an increase in unauthorised GLP-1 and peptide medicines being sold on social media for weight loss, some of which are used to treat diabetes.
“It is really sad to watch a loved one go through different highs and lows simply because they haven’t been able to take medication they need to manage their condition.
These are not just weight-loss injections, but for some people they are essential to their everyday health and wellbeing,” Ndapanda* (not her real name) told The Namibian yesterday.
She said they first struggled to find her mother’s diabetes medication at pharmacies in early 2025.
“We couldn’t understand how medication that had always been readily available at pharmacies was suddenly always out of stock,” Ndapanda said.
The use of diabetes injections for weight loss became a ‘beauty hack’ among young professionals around the world late last year.
Since last year, Ndapanda’s family started pre-ordering the injections to make sure the medicine is available when new stock arrives.
Health and social services minister Esperance Luvindao last year said Namibia recorded 6 844 diabetes cases during the 2024/25 financial year.
There are about 90 000 Namibians living with diabetes.
Another diabetes patient says while she has not struggled to find medicine for her type 1 diabetes, her father, who has type 2 diabetes and relies on public health facilities, has had a different experience.
“My dad struggles to get his medication from public pharmacies. Sometimes they don’t have his medication in stock at the state pharmacy,” she says.
HEALTH BEFORE BEAUTY
The health ministry has acknowledged that the public health system continues to experience medicine shortages.
“We have announced that we are always going through shortages.
If one consignment is not in that list, it is still outstanding and then it might be purchased in the next consignment, which will be pharmaceutical update number seven,” ministry spokesperson Walters Kamaya says.
The ministry’s pharmaceutical stock delivery update issued on 4 August showed that Gliclazide 80mg, used to control high blood sugar in people with diabetes, was among the medicines received.
It was the only diabetes-related medicine listed among the 46 medicine items received between 16 and 31 July.
Kamaya told The Namibian yesterday that the ministry has to be careful when commenting on registered medicines because some are legally sold by businesses.
“This is business. We are not there to kill people’s businesses,” he said.
He said the ministry’s role is to explain why certain medicines are not registered and caution people against products that do not meet Namibia’s registration requirements.
Specialist physician Dr Nobert Muramira says some medicines developed for diabetes can also help people lose weight, but they should be used under medical supervision.
Muramira said semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and tirzepatide, was developed to treat diabetes but has also been approved for weight management under another brand name.
“Using Ozempic for weight loss by someone without diabetes is considered an ‘off-label’ use because Ozempic is licensed for diabetes rather than weight management,” he says.
Muramira says semaglutide can help with weight loss at lower doses, although the results may differ depending on the dose.
“To me, it’s acceptable as long as it’s used properly and not self-medication,” he says.
Specialist physician Dr Ismael Katjitae also says there is a place for diabetes medicines used for weight loss, but they should be given to the right patients.
“It is for the right person. You need to use it for the right indication and not just blindly because you want to be much prettier,” Katjitae says.
He says people should be assessed by a healthcare professional instead of obtaining the medicines simply for cosmetic weight loss.
“If you are in the hands of the right person who knows what to do,” the medicines can be beneficial, Katjitae adds.
SLIMING DEMAND
In December, the World Health Organisation (WHO) added GLP-1 medicines used to treat diabetes and obesity-related conditions to its essential medicines list.
The list included semaglutide.
WHO included the medicines for people with type 2 diabetes who also have heart disease, kidney disease or obesity, but not for obesity alone.
At that time, WHO said high prices continue to limit access to these medicines, particularly in developing countries.
Nutritionist Vanessa Negumbo says taking medication when it is not medically necessary could cause unwanted effects, some of which may be long-term.
She says being overweight or obese is a health concern, but weight can also be managed through changes in diet and physical activity.
“Simple changes such as eating balanced, home-cooked meals, reducing sugary foods and alcohol, and being physically active, such as walking for 30 minutes a day, can make a difference,” she says.
