Novo Nordisk, in partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Center, has launched a six-month diabetes awareness campaign in Nairobi to promote early diagnosis through screening, especially among low-income populations.
The campaign’s message — ‘It takes only five seconds to get your blood sugar tested’ — is backed up with diabetes screening and education at public health care facilities and faith-based organizations in selected counties including Nairobi.
In addition to Novo Nordisk, the Ministry of Health and Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Center, the campaign is also supported by the Danish Embassy, Philips Pharmaceutical, Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies, Kenya Defeat Diabetes Association, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Christian Health Association of Kenya.
More than 700,000 people are living with diabetes in Kenya but only one in four are diagnosed, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Untreated, diabetes can lead to complications affecting the heart, blood vessels, eyes and kidneys.
The campaign is the most recent activity from Novo Nordisk’s Base of the Pyramid (BoP) project, which seeks to ensure availability and accessibility of affordable insulin and provision of quality diabetes health care to Kenyans at the base of the "economic pyramid".
The BoP project was launched in Kenya in 2012 and has since engaged in public-private partnerships to build capacity and ensure insulin supply through well-established faith-based organizations in 27 of Kenya’s 47 counties, Novo Nordisk says. The BoP project also aims to limit price mark-ups and to ultimately control the price that the patient has to pay at the pharmacy. Novo Nordisk says it has made agreements with every link in the distribution chain, making it difficult for distributors and actors in the value chain to exceed the agreed price.
Late last year, Novo Nordisk opened its eleventh Diabetes Support Center, improving access to affordable diabetes treatment in some of the largest cities in Ghana and Nigeria. The support center is a one-stop facility that houses patient care services in a single location that both reduces costs and improves treatment outcomes.
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Founder, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Jul 7, 2015 1am EDT / 10pm PDT / 6am BST / 7am CEST