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Novo Nordisk opens regional office in Kenya

From left: Pharmacy and Poisons Board CEO Dr Fred Siyoi, Denmark Deputy Ambassador to Kenya Henrik Larsen and Novo Nordisk's Vice President (Business Area Africa and Gulf) Mads Bo Larsen during the opening of Novo Nordisk's Nairobi Office

Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company headquartered in Denmark with more than 95 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care has opened a regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. Medicine is their key contribution and they supply nearly half of the world’s insulin. However, it takes more than medicine to defeat diabetes. The company, therefore, works in partnerships to drive change to defeat diabetes.

Some of the key projects in Kenya include the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) project that works to improve access to diabetes care for people at the base of the economic pyramid and the Changing Diabetes® in Children (CDiC) programme that aims to bring all elements of necessary diabetes care closer to the children and build capacity for the diagnosis and treatment of children with type 1 diabetes living in resource-poor settings. These projects are also being implemented in other countries in the region.

These initiatives focus on educating patients, supporting decision-makers, training healthcare professionals, and strengthening healthcare systems. The partnerships include the Ministries of Health, Diagnostic Companies, Faithbased Organisations, NGOs, Drug Supply Organizations, Healthcare Professionals, Patient Associations and the Royal Danish embassy. The projects identify solutions help in adopting an integrated approach to diagnosis, treatment and diabetes control. The ultimate aim is that more people with diabetes live better lives.

Mads Bo Larsen, Corporate Vice President Business Area Africa & Gulf Novo Nordisk said, “Today marks a historic moment as we inaugurate our office in Kenya.  We reaffirm our commitment to sub-Saharan Africa and our affiliate will continue to drive change through innovation, access and prevention. Novo Nordisk is committed to having strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders in the health sector to implement initiatives that improve the lives of patients”

Health and partnerships are key to sustainable development. Inaction on Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in developing countries is associated with high-costs to society1. 30 trillion US dollars is what NCDs will cost society in lost economic output between 2011 and 2030 in LMICs1. 41 million people die from NCDs each year2 and 3 in 4 NCD-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Larsen reiterated that the company’s partnerships will focus on increasing patient access to quality care and treatment, ensuring shared value for partners and stakeholders, efficient and reliable supply of affordable quality medicine.

Speaking on the occasion H.E. Henrik Larsen Deputy Ambassador of Denmark to Kenya said, “We are pleased to witness the official opening of the Middle Africa office, this shows the commitment of Novo Nordisk to the Africa region. Improving access to diabetes care through partnerships is an integral part of Novo Nordisk core business. Public-private partnerships are key to strengthening health systems, particularly in Low Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and in achieving the global goals for sustainable development.”

Novo Nordisk formed the Middle Africa affiliate in 2012 comprising 49 countries across sub-Saharan Africa with Headquarters located in Dubai, UAE, from where the management team was based and carried out operations. On 1st July 2018, the affiliate headquarters was relocated from Dubai, UAE to Nairobi, Kenya in order to drive business growth by being closer to the markets.

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