Novo Nordisk awards journalists for diabetes awareness boost

Novo Nordisk has announced the presentation of its Media Prize 2007 to two journalists for their work in increasing public awareness of diabetes.

The accolade was given to Argentina’s Gabriela Navarra for a print article and Michael Kefalogiannis from Greece for his TV feature on the condition.

Printed in weekly magazine La Nacion Revista, Ms Navarra’s article addressed how patients deal with their condition, while also exploring the discovery of insulin and new treatments and exploding a number of myths about the disease.

In his TV feature on weekly show Health for All, Mr Kefalogiannis presented scientific facts about the condition for the lay-person, exploring issues relating to both types one and two of the condition, undiagnosed diabetes, pre-diabetic symptoms and diabetes in pregnancy.

Lars Rebien Sorensen, president and chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk, said: “The majority of cases of type two diabetes are preventable if people understand what causes the disease and what can be done to prevent it.

“The media play a crucial role in creating this awareness.”

He added that the entrants to this year’s media prize competition provide exceptional examples of how the media can boost awareness of diabetes and help prevent rising incidence of the condition.

In May 2007, Novo Nordisk unveiled its $200 million (100 million pound) insulin manufacturing site in Brazil, its largest facility outside its base country of Denmark.