7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 – Obesity is now a bigger problem than world hunger, but is Ozempic the miracle cure?
Originally manufactured for people with Type 2 diabetes, it wasn’t long before a beneficial side effect of Ozempic was discovered – weight loss.
Now there’s a worldwide shortage as the people who need the medication to treat diabetes compete with overwhelming demand from those wanting to use Ozempic to shed the kilos.
Join 7NEWS Spotlight this Sunday at 8.45pm on Channel 7 and 7plus for this special TV event, featuring a studio audience and a panel of Australia’s top medical experts to answer all your big questions and explain everything you need to know about the Hollywood wonder drug dividing the world.
The panel will unpack all the pros and cons and hot-button issues including whether Ozempic should be widely available to children and whether the drug should be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Plus, hear emotional personal stories from those who swear by the weight-loss drug to those who have nearly died from taking it.
Former The Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester is brought to tears as she reveals how Ozempic has changed her life and her hopes for access to the drug so that no other child suffers the same “fat shaming” she endured for decades.
“I thought my weight was my fault my entire life,” she tells 7NEWS Spotlight. “It wasn’t until I had medicine that fixed the food noise in my head that I realised it was a very real condition that I was living with.”
Australian PR maven Roxy Jacenko opens up in her most personal interview yet about just how terrifying and dangerous her Ozempic overdose was. “They [doctors] had never seen this before,” she tells the program. “My whole body was shaking. I couldn’t control my legs… it’s like I had no control of my body.”
Host Michael Usher, who co-presents this special event alongside Sarah Greenhalgh, said Australia was on the verge of a health revolution and “the emotion in this topic is supercharged at the moment”.
“People need Ozempic for diabetes and weight loss. They just want facts, information and help. Not judgement,” he said. “And that’s what we provide with our medical experts and panel members.
“For some this is lifesaving. Some are desperate. Many are worried about supply. But there’s no doubt we’re about to see a radical shift in the treatment of obesity in Australia.”
7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 and 7plus – The Ozempic Revolution 8.45pm AEDT Sunday 14 April, 2024
Media Release – Seven
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