Closing the circle

When the CEO and President of Novo Nordisk A/S, Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen one morning in December 2006 visited a World Diabetes Foundation project in Cape Town, he elegantly closed a circle of events that started with South Africa, five years ago.

Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen (purple shirt) visits the Khayelitsa clinic in South Africa, December 2006.

Back in 2001, Novo Nordisk, like 40 other multinational pharmaceutical companies, experienced major criticism during a trial held in South Africa in relation to a case pertaining to import of anti HIV/AIDS medications.

The background was a court case that the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PMA) filed against the South African government in 1998, claiming that new government legislation was breaching both the country’s own laws and international patent conventions that South Africa has signed by passing a legislation that would allow South Africa to import copies of patented medicines from countries that do not observe international patent law.

It would also allow local companies to produce copies of patented medicines. The purpose of the new law was to enable the government to provide medicines at more affordable prices, thereby allowing more people access to treatment.

As a member of the PMA, Novo Nordisk was also part of the case, despite the fact that the company does not produce AIDS medicine. Novo Nordisk decided to join the action against the new legislation because it concerned patent rights.

This action drew a lot of flak from the NGO community and anti HIV activists lobby.

The beginning for the World Diabetes Foundation

The big ado contributed in some way to the setting up of the World Diabetes Foundation. The man behind the idea, Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen, was new in office as the CEO of Novo Nordisk A/S. His belief was that companies like Novo Nordisk should act as responsible members of the society; giving something back to the poor communities.

Lars Rebien Sørensen successfully lobbied the directors and shareholders of Novo Nordisk A/S to help set up an independent Foundation and commit donations of at least 500 million Danish Kroner over the period of ten years to fund initiatives for sustainable solutions for prevention of diabetes and access to care in the developing world.    

Back then Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen said; “Novo Nordisk’s decision to create the World Diabetes Foundation is to be seen as a reaction to the current global attention to the health care situation in developing countries and especially the continuous focus on the responsibilities of global pharmaceutical companies.”

Since its birth in 2002, WDF has funded 110 projects in the developing countries and this year the first fundraising project came to life in the city where the idea was born; Cape Town.

The company provides benefits to poor countries

On 5th December 2006, Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen visited Khayelitsha, a very poor black socio-economic area of Cape Town, together with Mr. Jesper Brandgaard, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Novo Nordisk along with members of the WDF Secretariat.

The fundus camera photographs the inside of the eye to detect diabetic retinopathy.

In Khayelitsha a nurse and two technicians operate a fundus camera to detect diabetic retinopathy in three community health centres. The funds for the camera and training of the staff of the clinic, which is run by the South African Ministry of Health, were contributed by Novo Nordisk employees and managers. Patients needing laser treatment are referred to a larger hospital.

Approximately 20-30 patients are screened at each weekly visit. A total of 60-90 patients are assessed each week in all 3 centres. Each of these centres has several hundred regular patients with diabetes.

The dedicated people in the community health centre and the extremely poor neighbourhood made a deep impression on Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen. “I am extremely satisfied to see that our company is supporting communities like this, the donations bring a great value to people living here but also represent a value to the people working in Novo Nordisk; we do more than conduct business as usual”.

The visit to the eye clinic was arranged to be held in the same week as the IDF Congress in Cape Town. “This week,” explains WDF communication manager Jamal Butt “a large number of important people of the global diabetes community are visiting Cape Town, and the focus is on diabetes”.

To build on the focus, WDF invited two international media participant, BBC World Service and The Economist, along to the community health centre. Members of the WDF board of directors and the managing director Dr. Anil Kapur were interviewed, which resulted in a radio broadcast brought to all African countries.

Don’t copy the drugs, copy the initiative

Today, as CEO and President of one of the leading insulin producers in the world Mr. Lars Rebien Sørensen will defend the right to patents, and as a member of WDF board of directors he puts in an equal effort to fight diabetes in the developing countries.

His wish is that other companies replicate his idea: “I like to think that Novo Nordisk A/S can make a significant difference and lead the way for other initiatives of the same sort. I urge my colleagues in other international pharmaceutical companies to think of ways in which they can help provide incentives to support a policy on corporate social responsibility within their fields of business”.

Read the previous article on the Khayelitsa project.