Changing Diabetes® Leadership Forums

Diabetes will constitute the most significant public health challenge of the 21st century if no action is taken now. It is already causing as many deaths as HIV/AIDS. Only through a united approach will significant change in society take place. The aim of the Changing Diabetes® Leadership Forums is to unite all key stakeholders in setting an agenda for change, including national diabetes strategies, early detection, improved diabetes prevention, access to diabetes care and quality of care for people with diabetes. An integrated aim of the Forums is to commit stakeholders around national targets for improved diabetes care.

First Global Leadership Forum
The Leadership Forums are part of Novo Nordisk’s commitment to call for a worldwide change in diabetes care. On 13–14 March 2007 in New York City, Novo Nordisk hosted the first Global Changing Diabetes® Leadership Forum. The Forum, supported by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), gathered over 185 policy-makers, government officials, international organisations, patient organisations, healthcare professionals, people with diabetes and media from 21 countries. Prominent speakers addressed the Forum, including former US President Bill Clinton.

Launching the Changing Diabetes® Barometer Participants discussed ways to raise awareness of the global burden of diabetes and how to develop sustainable health policies that generate value-based outcomes for people with diabetes. Novo Nordisk believes that improved outcomes will depend on increased transparency and measurability of diabetes. Measurability is essential to increase awareness of the need for improvement, and essential to guide the actions to change diabetes. Lars Rebien Sørensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, therefore announced that the company would develop a Changing Diabetes® Barometer, which will constitute a strong guidance for policy-makers and decision-makers to measure progress for changing diabetes and help set priorities for national diabetes action plans. The first Changing Diabetes® Barometer report was published in November 2007 and the Barometer website went live in April 2009: www.changingdiabetesbarometer.com.

A global movement to change diabetes
The first Global Leadership Forum took place soon after the adoption of a United Nations (UN) Resolution on diabetes [No 61/225 of 20 December 2006], which calls upon all nations to tackle the growing diabetes pandemic. Novo Nordisk is committed to actively support the implementation of the UN Resolution on diabetes globally and has decided to host or sponsor as many as 20 national forums by 2010 to bring diabetes on the political agenda. So far, Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey have hosted national forums.

Kofi Annan delivers keynote speech at Russian Forum
The second international Leadership Forum was held in Moscow on 27 November 2008. The Forum was hosted by the Russian Diabetes Federation, endorsed by the IDF and sponsored by Novo Nordisk. Prominent speakers included former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Council Federation of the Russian Federation (Upper House) Sergey Mironov and Tver region Governor Dmitry Zelenin. A very ambitious Resolution on Diabetes in Russia was also adopted.

The third international leadership forum will be held prior to World Diabetes Day 2009 in Beijing, China.