Novo Nordisk highlights growing need for action on diabetes

Novo Nordisk has marked World Diabetes Day by underlining its commitment to combating a disease that is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide.

The pharmaceutical company has highlighted new figures from the International Diabetes Federation showing that 366 million people currently have diabetes, with around half of these cases being undiagnosed.

This total is expected to rise to 522 million by 2030, with the vast majority of this total being people from low or middle-income nations.

As such, Novo Nordisk has carried out free diabetes screenings in poorer countries on World Diabetes Day (November 14th 2011), while participating in various fundraising events and awareness campaigns.

Lars Rebien Sorensen, president and chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk, said: "The new numbers from IDF speak for themselves. The projections are alarming and call for action – both in terms of prevention, detection and better treatment of the disease."

This comes after the firm launched its new insulin pen device FlexTouch for diabetes patients in the UK last month.