Ozempic shortage has disproportionate impact on N.W.T.'s Indigenous population

A global shortage of a drug used for Type 2 diabetes is being felt in the N.W.T. and could disproportionately affect Indigenous people.  

Ozempic has been in short supply in the N.W.T. since the early fall, with pharmacists scrambling to keep enough supply to serve existing patients. Novo Nordisk, the company that produces the drug, has told Health Canada the shortage will continue until March 2024. 

The drug, administered through a weekly injection, has become increasingly popular for treatment of Type 2 diabetes, but the shortage has been exacerbated by its off-label popularity as a weight-loss drug. 

"It's certainly going to affect [N.W.T.] disproportionately," said territorial medical director Dr. Claudia Kraft of the shortage. 

Kraft says the use of Ozempic is higher in the N.W.T. than in other jurisdictions in Canada. 

"We have higher rates of diabetes, which is what you would expect in Canada today in a population that's just over 50 per cent Indigenous," she said. 

About five per cent of the general population in Canada has diabetes. 

That number is two to three times higher in Métis and First Nations populations, both on and off reserve. 

Pharmacists in the territory told CBC News earlier this fall they've seen a drastic increase in prescriptions for the drug over the past year. In October, one pharmacist said they were dispensing 10 times more Ozempic per month than they were a year ago. 

To deal with the shortage, pharmacists said they are prioritizing diabetic patients already on the drug, and using waiting lists and rationing. In some cases, patients have also had to call around to pharmacies to find supply.

Kraft says the territorial health authority has asked doctors not to put new patients on Ozempic, or other drugs in the same class, to ensure patients already on these drugs have a steady supply. 

The guidance suggests prescribing an alternative medication in the same class as Ozempic for those already on the drug, but warns there may soon be shortages of those drugs too, because other jurisdictions are resorting to the same measures. 

Dr. Stewart Harris is the diabetes chair at the University of Western Ontario's medical school. He's worked with remote Indigenous communities, with a special focus on barriers to care and access to treatment. 

Harris said Ozempic is popular — even more than other drugs in the same class — because it's effective.