San Francisco Frontiers - Ozempic slimming craze sweeps Kosovo despite side effects

"I want to lose 15-16 kilos (33-35 pounds) in two months," Kadriu, 29, told AFP, "and then I'll continue with fitness".

Ozempic, approved in the United States to treat diabetes in 2017, has found an international market for people trying to lose weight.

Despite its cost, the drug has soared in popularity in Kosovo, a country of 1.7 million.

While Kosovo authorities have not sanctioned the drug's use for weight loss, they have noted their limited means to confront use of a drug widely available in the country.

Merita Emini-Sadiku, who heads the Kosovo university hospital's endocrinology clinic, said the cost of the drug had soared.

"The monthly dose used to be 75-80 euros ($85-91), while now it is 130-140 euros ($147-159), probably due to high demand," she said.

But she warned that "Ozempic has side effects that people are not aware of".

Ozempic use can potentially cause issues including thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction, according to the latest studies.

- 'Constant demand' -

Meant to treat Type 2 diabetes -- of which the WHO says Kosovo has lower than average levels -- the drug regulates blood sugar levels but also helps suppress hunger, leading to a lower calorie intake.

As a result, its potentially cancerous complications have done little to stem the drug's popularity or availability.

"I checked a lot of pharmacies in Kosovo and I noticed that Ozempic is very easy to get," said Kadriu, adding that pharmacists even suggested she gradually increase her dosage.

A worker at a pharmacy in the capital Pristina's downtown, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had trouble recalling when someone last came into her pharmacy to buy Ozempic with a diabetes prescription.

"But we have a constant demand for Ozempic without a prescription. You can guess why," she said.

Given its availability, Emini-Sadiku said authorities should exercise greater control over Ozempic's distribution.

But Bujar Vitija, a journalist specialising in health, said that would be tricky to achieve given Kosovo's poor health record-keeping.

"Unfortunately there is no data," Vitija said.

With 1,500 to 1,600 private pharmacies in Kosovo, the country's 20 pharmaceutical inspectors have their work cut out for them, he added.

- Ozempic 'every day' -

While Kosovo has lower levels of obesity than the European average, more than 57 percent of the population is overweight and 20 percent is clinically obese, according to a 2019 World Health Organization report.

And women, who are more likely to face societal pressure to be thin, were 66 percent more likely to be obese than men, the WHO report found.

But not every Kosovar who has used Ozempic had the best experience with the drug.

"I took Ozempic on the advice of a doctor for two years but it had no effect," said 48-year-old merchant Lulzim Rrahmani, adding that three of his relatives even experienced "a negative effect of the drug".

"It was just a waste of money and time."

Given the risk of side effects, Emini-Sadiku said Ozempic was "by no means to be taken without a doctor's prescription".

Yet Kadriu said she would not be deterred, adding that she saw colleagues taking the drug "every day at work".

"I don't see any symptom that would deter me."

U.Campbell--SFF