How do I report a side effect in the UAE?
Tell the doctor or pharmacist who looks after you, and report it to the UAE's medicines regulator, the Emirates Drug Establishment, which took over the federal side-effect reporting service on 29 December 2025. In Abu Dhabi you can also email the Department of Health's pharmacovigilance programme at [email protected]. For a severe reaction, call 998.
How do you report at federal level?
The federal service for reporting side effects of medicines, open to patients as well as professionals, moved from the Ministry of Health and Prevention to the Emirates Drug Establishment on 29 December 2025.1
The ministry's version was free, and asked for the patient's details, the reporter's details, the medicine and a clear description of the side effect.1 The ministry now points users to the Emirates Drug Establishment website, but on 12 October 2026 we could not find the public form on its service list.2 If you can't find it either, ask your doctor or pharmacist to report it for you.
How do you report in Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi's Department of Health asks health professionals and the public to report side effects, and suspected fake medicines, to its pharmacovigilance programme at [email protected].3,4
Professionals can also use the DoH e-Notification system or its Adverse Reaction Reporting form.4 The DoH wants reports "even if reporters are not certain that the particular medicinal product was the cause".4 The same email checks whether a pen is genuine.5 We found no public reporting channel for Dubai.
What should you include?
Note the medicine's name and strength, when you started it, what happened and when, and keep the pen or box, which shows the batch number.1
Report even common effects if they are severe or unexpected. Very common stomach effects, such as nausea and diarrhoea, are listed on the EU labels for Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.6,7,8 Which effects to expect, and which need a doctor, is in Guide 5: Side effects and risks.
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Sources
- Ministry of Health and Prevention. Reporting Side Effects of Medicines and Medical Products within UAE, service page (site banner: "Some of the services of the Ministry of Health and Prevention have been transferred to the Emirates Drug Establishment"; target audience includes patients; free; "Effective 29 December 2025, this service will be moved to Emirates Drug Establishment. You can submit your requests through the website: www.ede.gov.ae"). Internet Archive copy of 7 Jan 2026; mohap.gov.ae did not load from here. web.archive.org
- Emirates Drug Establishment. Official website (federal medicines regulator). Checked 12 Oct 2026; we could not find the public side-effect form on its service list. ede.gov.ae
- Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Circular 48/2026, 16 Mar 2026: alert against counterfeit weight-loss products; GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide are prescription-only medicines; the products in the alert are not registered with the Emirates Drug Establishment but are sold online and on social media; report adverse reactions to the DoH Pharmacovigilance program ([email protected]). Summarised, not reproduced. doh.gov.ae (PDF)
- Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Adverse drug reaction reporting, Pharmacovigilance program (healthcare professionals report through the e-Notification system or by emailing the Adverse Reaction Reporting form to [email protected]; report "even if reporters are not certain that the particular medicinal product was the cause"). doh.gov.ae
- Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Circular 10/2025, 4 Feb 2025: alert against counterfeit Ozempic and Mounjaro sold through social media and a website; the medicines are prescription-only under UAE law; the public should buy them only with a prescription, from pharmacies, and not online or through adverts. Summarised, not reproduced. doh.gov.ae (PDF)
- European Medicines Agency. Mounjaro (tirzepatide) product information (SmPC sections 4.1, 4.8 and 6.3: weight management at BMI ≥ 30, or ≥ 27 with a weight-related condition; nausea and diarrhoea very common; gallstones and acute pancreatitis uncommon; KwikPen after first use 30 days in a fridge or below 30 ºC). EU label; UAE label text not checked. ema.europa.eu (PDF)
- European Medicines Agency. Ozempic (semaglutide) product information (SmPC sections 4.1, 4.8 and 6.3: type 2 diabetes; nausea and diarrhoea very common; gallstones common; acute pancreatitis uncommon; 4-dose pens 6 weeks after first use, below 30 °C or in a fridge). EU label; UAE label text not checked. ema.europa.eu (PDF)
- European Medicines Agency. Wegovy (semaglutide) product information (SmPC sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.8 and 6.3: weight management at BMI ≥ 30, or ≥ 27 with a weight-related condition; 7.2 mg dose step after 2.4 mg; in the 68-week STEP 1–4 trials nausea in 43.9% vs 16.1% on placebo; gallstones common; acute pancreatitis uncommon; FlexTouch 6 weeks after first use, below 30°C or in a fridge). EU label; UAE label text not checked. ema.europa.eu (PDF)
- Department of Digital Ajman. Handling emergencies ("999 for Police", "998 for Ambulance", "997 for Fire Department (Civil Defence)"). ajman.ae
Last checked 12 Oct 2026 · Next review due 12 Apr 2027 · Report an error
How this answer was made. Written by the GLP Guidebook team from the sources above, all checked on 12 Oct 2026. It's general information, not medical advice, and religious questions are for a scholar you trust. Talk to a UAE-licensed doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine. How we write