Novo Nordisk launches Changing Diabetes Barometer

At a media roundtable in Brussels, Belgium, Danish insulin giant Novo Nordisk presented the Changing Diabetes Barometer, which it says will measure and share the worldwide progress in the fight against diabetes on an annual basis. The Barometer is a tool that will provide health care professionals, patient organizations, politicians, institutions and the media with valuable information on how to improve the quality of diabetes care, bring down diabetes-related complications, extend patients' life expectancy and reduce costs.

"We have been driving the fight against diabetes in the dark for far too long. We need to put the lights on. We need to keep score of our shared efforts against diabetes to drive sustainable change. This is what the Changing Diabetes Barometer is about. It provides information on how we can better improve the lives of people with diabetes and how to better prioritize diabetes care," says Lise Kingo, executive vice president at Novo Nordisk.

To support the Barometer, Novo Nordisk will, on an annual basis, publish a report with key findings. The first report covers 21 countries and highlights that significant savings, as much as 20% reduction of lifelong health care costs, can be made if people with diabetes are diagnosed earlier and before any complications arise. Furthermore, disease complications can be reduced by improving control. A person with complications is three to six times as expensive as a person without measured in health care costs, the firm notes.