Jakob Riis, PhD er Novo Nordisk A/S executive vice president, China, Pacific & Marketing. Hans forgænger i bestyrelsen, Lars Rebien Sørensen, har siddet i forsamlingen siden den første dag for 13 år siden, da WDF blev sat i verden af den store danske medicinalkoncern.
Fonden bekæmper sukkersyge verden over, som især er et eksplosivt voksende problem i u-landene sammen med andre livsstilssygdomme.
WDF skriver:
Jakob Riis joined Novo Nordisk in 1996 as a health economist. From 2001 through 2005 Mr Riis worked first in the US sales force and then as head of marketing in Japan.
In 2005 he was appointed senior vice president for International Marketing. In January 2013 he was appointed executive vice president assuming responsibility for Marketing & Medical Affairs.
In November 2014 he took over the responsibilities for Corporate Stakeholder Engagement.
Mr Riis is chairman of the board of Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design and a member of the board and audit committee of ALK-Abelló A/S, both in Denmark.
Af foretagsom familie
Jakob Riis blev født som den yngste i en søskendeflok på fire. Her voksede han op i en foretagsom familie, hvor det at tage ansvar og yde et bidrag kom ind helt fra begyndelsen.
Jakob Riis’ far er pensioneret overlæge og professor i intern medicin på Københavns Universitet, Povl Riis, der er kendt som en særdeles foretagsom herre.
Ud over en karriere som internationalt anerkendt forsker i mave-tarm-sygdomme, er nu 89-årige Povl Riis bl.a. kendt for i årtier at arbejde for en mere åben og etisk tilgang til lægefaget.
Efter gymnasiet valgte Jakob Riis at uddanne sig til forstkandidat fra den daværende Landbohøjskole, og efterfølgende tog han en ph.d. i økonomi og statistik.
Den lidt usædvanlige baggrund for en karriere i medicinalindustrien deler han med sin øverste chef, Novos koncerndirektør Lars Rebien Sørensen.
Allerede inden Riis fik ansvaret for international marketing, var kollegerne rundt om i organisationen begyndt at lægge mærke til den garderhøje dansker.
Se mere om WDF bestyrelsen, hvor bl.a. seniorforsker Ida Nicolaisen sidder, på http://u-landsnyt.dk/navnenyt/nyt-job/world-diabetes-foundation-goddag-til-inder-og-farv
Med fra starten
WDF skriver om Lars Rebien Sørensen:
Mr Sørensen is president and CEO of Novo Nordisk A/S. He was appointed president and chief executive officer in November 2000.
His concerns about how to ensure access to diabetes care in the world’s poorest countries led to the creation of a long-term strategy which included the establishment of the WDF.
Mr Sørensen was a founding member of the WDF Board. During his tenure, the Foundation provided 109.7 million US dollar in funding to 398 partnership projects in 112 countries.
The total value of the WDF project portfolio reached 325.6 million dollar, with additional funding dedicated to WDF’s own advocacy and strategic platforms.
“At lindre menneskelig lidelse”
The World Diabetes Foundation is an independent trust dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diabetes in the developing world.
Its aim is to alleviate human suffering related to diabetes and its complications among those least able to withstand the burden of the disease.
The Foundation supports sustainable partnerships and acts as a catalyst to help others do more.
World Diabetes Foundation partnership projects focus on awareness, education and capacity building at the local, regional and global level. For every dollar spent, the Foundation is able to raise approximately two dollars in cash or as in-kind donations from other sources.
For more information, please visit www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org
WDF har penge til 2024
World Diabetes Foundation blev stiftet i 2002 på en stor gave fra Novo Nordisk og verdensfirmaet sikrede i fjor virket langt fremefter med en ny stor gave.
Det skete, da Novo Nordisk A/S på sit årsmøde i marts 2014 vedtog at lægge det økonomiske fundament for yderligere ti års sukkersygebekæmpelse i verdens u-lande via en donation på 654 millioner kr.
Det hed i en pressemeddelelse, at “the additional amount brings the total endowments from Novo Nordisk A/S to a total of 1.75 billion DKR in the period from 2001 to 2024, equal to an estimated 326.2 million US dollar”.
Men pengene er der også. Novo Nordisk fik fredag aften (25.09.15) meddelelse om, at insulinpræparatet Tresiba og diabetesmedicinen Ryzodeg er godkendt i USA.
I 2013 forsøgte Novo Nordisk at få godkendt Tresiba, dog uden held. Derfor er det et markant plus for koncernen at komme ind på det store og lukrative marked.
Alene penge til u-landene
Worldwide, diabetes is estimated to rise 55 per cent over the next twenty years. The majority of this increase will take place in today’s developing countries, most notably with a 109 per cent increase in Africa, hed det videre
This poses immense challenges to health systems which are not geared to tackle the tsunami of diabetes which follows in the wake of urbanisation trends and economic growth.
The mission statement of the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) is “to alleviate human suffering related to diabetes and its complications among those least able to withstand the burden of disease.”
As a consequence of this particular poverty focus, the Foundation only grants funds to developing countries defined by the OECD DAC list.
En svøbe, der breder sig – hurtigt
* 382 million people live with diabetes globally. This number is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035.
* 316 million people globally have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) which is the pre-stage for diabetes.
* This number is expected to rise to 471 million by 2035.
(Kilde: WDF)
Admin. direktør i WDF siden april 2013 er dr. Anders Dejgaard – mere om ham på
http://u-landsnyt.dk/navnenyt/nyt-job/ny-direkt-r-hos-world-diabetes-foundation
Han residerer sammen med resten af staben i domicilet på Brogårdsvej 70 i Gentofte i det nordlige København.
