Novo Nordisk hosts Bill Clinton speech

Diabetes healthcare firm Novo Nordisk is set to host the Global Changing Diabetes Leadership Forum, welcoming former US president Bill Clinton as keynote speaker.

The event, supported by the International Diabetes Federation, will take place in New York on March 13th and envisages providing a dialogue on redefining healthcare for diabetes sufferers.

Discourse on how to provide more patient-centric services is expected to lead the forum, which will also be attended by international organisations, government officials and patient groups, among others. The meeting hopes to address what Novo Nordisk president Lars Rebien Sorensen terms “the most significant public health challenge of the 21st century”, highlighting the need for urgent action.

Concepts outlined by Harvard Professor Michael E Porter and Professor Elizabeth Teisberg in their book Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results are to form a basis for the discussion. Along with the former president, Professor Teisberg will be in attendance.

“Diabetes will constitute the most significant public health challenge of the 21st century if no action is taken now. It is already causing as many deaths as HIV/Aids. We need to explore practical ways of redefining healthcare, by focusing on the needs of people with diabetes,” Mr Rebien Sorensen said.

Novo Nordisk is a diabetes care firm which aims to improve methods of prevention, detection and treatment of the metabolic disorder.