ISLANDERS with diabetes have had to use alternative treatments as a result of global drug shortages, a senior figure in the Health Department has said.
But medical director Patrick Armstrong said that patient safety was not affected.
Addressing questions from the Health and Social Services Scrutiny Panel on concerns over medication shortages, Mr Armstrong said: “Yes, it’s an issue in Jersey.
“Yes, it’s affecting the way that some patients are having to be treated and alternative treatments are being [used] for some patients.”
Patient safety was not affected, said Mr Armstrong, who added: “It’s not that patients aren’t getting any treatments.”
In the UK and internationally, a rise in the use of the diabetes drug Ozempic for weight loss has resulted in widespread shortages of the drug.
Ozempic helps patients with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar, but it also suppresses patients’ appetites, which has made it a popular – albeit controversial – weight-loss drug.
England’s Department of Health and Social Care, as well as NHS England, said earlier this year that supplies of the drugs were “limited, with supply not expected to return to normal until at least the end of 2024”.
Deputy Louise Doublet, the Scrutiny panel’s chair, argued that these shortages were of public concern.
More than 4,500 people in Jersey are living with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and a further 2,000 could be living with the disease without knowing, according to figures released in 2023.
Doctors warned last year that the disease could potentially overwhelm Jersey’s health service if no preventative measures were taken.
Mr Armstrong added that drug shortages were “not uncommon”, with Jersey usually seeing “around 90 to 100 drugs at any one time where there are shortages” – out of thousands of drugs that are available.
Jersey often sees a reflection of global trends, Mr Armstrong added.
“If the UK is struggling, then other countries will too,” he explained.
