Access to health
As a world leader in diabetes care, Novo Nordisk is committed to finding ways of improving and changing the way diabetes is managed – and ultimately defeated. The world faces a diabetes pandemic. The International Diabetes Federation reports that the number of people with diabetes worldwide is expected to grow from 171 million in 2000 to 380 million in 2025.
Novo Nordisk has initiated a range of activities to address access to health. Please click the following links to learn more about our specific programmes.
Novo Nordisk also recognises that there is a significant need to improve haemophilia treatment and infrastructure in developing countries. Please click here to learn about the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation.
Novo Nordisk’s global health strategy
Novo Nordisk’s strategy for improved access to diabetes care is based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization for increasing access to health:
Urgent action required
We support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and our strategy on access to health recognises the link between poverty and ill health. In our socio-economic studies of diabetes and access to care, both individuals and systems and structures are in focus.
In developed countries we work to provide evidence of the costs of diabetes, to inform policy decisions, and to improve treatment outcomes for people with diabetes by focusing on the person behind the disease, and not simply the provision of medicines.
Diabetes soars in developing countries
Diabetes is linked to rising rates of obesity and too little exercise. These trends are also evident in the developing world, exacerbated by rapid cultural and social changes, increased urbanisation, an ageing population, and unhealthy lifestyle and behavioural patterns. Approximately 80% of the explosive growth in diabetes is expected to occur in the developing world. Many people with diabetes are unaware that they have the condition. Most developing countries lack the resources to provide adequate care, but inaction is costly. The burden of chronic disease has major economic effects on families, communities and societies. Click here to see the global distribution of people with diabetes.
Saving money – saving lives
A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Aarhus in collaboration with Novo Nordisk looked at the socio-economic costs of diabetes care. The hospitalisation costs for a person with severe complications are 10 times higher than the costs for people with well-controlled diabetes. On average, compared with the general population, life expectancy for people with diabetes declines by five years, and hospitalisation costs triple. Moreover, the indirect costs are at least as high as the direct costs of treatment; in some countries it is even higher.
The findings show that the complications of diabetes can be avoided by closing the gap between the treatment currently offered to people with diabetes, and what could be offered based on available guidelines and scientific knowledge.
