The World Health Organization should buy low-cost diabetes treatments in bulk on behalf of the poorest countries to ensure they get the lowest price, the head of the world’s largest insulin maker said. Most low- and middle-income countries pay too much for the medicines because they order relatively small amounts and few manufacturers bid for the tenders, Lars Rebien Soerensen, chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk A/S, said in an interview in London yesterday. Diabetes afflicts 346 million people worldwide, and more than 80 percent of deaths from the disease occur in poorer nations, according to the Geneva-based WHO, the United Nations’ health agency. The UN General Assembly will meet in New York from Sept. 19 to 20 to plan a response to the impact of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
