One of the principal voices

At the end of 2004, Lars Rebien Sørensen, President and CEO of Novo Nordisk and board member of the World Diabetes Foundation, was contacted by CNN and invited to participate in a new global media initiative by the name of Principal Voices.

The invitation was prompted by Novo Nordisk’s leadership in the field of social and environmental responsibility demonstrated through its commitment to the World Diabetes Foundation. The initiative represents an exclusive opportunity to advocate a global effort against diabetes.

Lars Rebien Sørensen in Tanzania during the takes of the video for the "Principal Voices" campaign. Tanzania is receiving support through one of the larger projects of WDF.

Discussing the global challenges

Principal Voices is an international project aimed at stimulating discussion on some of the global challenges confronting the world today.

Throughout 2005, CNN, Time and Fortune will be presenting a series of videos, articles and round-table discussions featuring nine world-renowned experts – Principal Voices – who will explore the key issues, offering their ideas and opinions on how to meet the challenges.

Themes covered will include the environment, business innovation, economic development and transport.

Novo Nordisk’s role in setting up the World Diabetes Foundation and the difference that the Foundation has made for people with diabetes in some of the world’s poorest countries played an important role in identifying Lars Rebien Sørensen as one of the Principal Voices.

This was made clear when CNN requested that the video vignette to run on CNN would have as its setting Tanzania, one of the recipient countries of the World Diabetes Foundation’s diabetes action programme.

Getting the message through in three medias

The Principal Voices initiative, which is being made possible through the sponsorship of Shell, consists of the following four components:

• Editorial vignettes on CNN running until September 2005. Watch the vignette presenting Lars Rebien Sørensen.
• ‘White Papers’ in Fortune magazine published on 18 April 2005 and in Time Magazine on 2 May 2005.
• Principal Voices website –  www.principalvoices.com
• Principal Voices events – round-table discussions on each theme

A global audience

As a Principal Voice, Lars Rebien Sørensen will have the opportunity to communicate the messages of diabetes to a global media audience.
“When I accepted the invitation to become a Principal Voice on CNN and in Time and Fortune, it was an easy decision to make. Here we have a chance to reach 203 countries and 147 million households with our messages about the pandemic of diabetes and the necessity of addressing this threat,” says Lars Rebien Sørensen.

In this respect, the Principal Voices initiative represents a unique channel for raising awareness of diabetes and mobilising the global scene in a joint effort – a rare opportunity that fully supports the mission of the World Diabetes Foundation.

An industry responsibility

The number of people with diabetes globally is expected to rise from 177 million today to 370 million in 2030. This places a responsibility not only on individual health authorities but on the industry as a whole to exhibit social and environmental responsibility.

“The Principal Voices initiative provides an opportunity to show that corporate social responsibility is part of doing business. It is the right thing to do, it is expected of us, and we have the knowledge to carry it through,” concludes Lars Rebien Sørensen.