This report accounts for Novo Nordisk’s approach to doing business – for performance, progress, positions and strategic initiatives as well as for the key issues and the dilemmas we face as a pharmaceutical company and as a corporate global citizen.

Taking responsibility - Acting on our commitments -Accounting for our performance - Major achievements in 2003 - Living our values - Access to health - Our employees - Our use of animals - Eco-efficiency and compliance - Economic contribution -Awards and recognitions

Being there is our promise. This report shows how we hold ourselves accountable to stakeholders and strive to report in a transparent way. It covers the issues that we deem to be material to our future business and which – to the best of our knowledge – are material to our stakeholders’ assessment of the company. With the aim of capturing the organisation’s ‘footprint’ in terms of social, environmental and economic impacts on society and the natural environment, the report accounts for Novo Nordisk’s performance and activities during 2003.

To Novo Nordisk, being a responsible business is about balancing concerns for people, environment and society. This commitment to the Triple Bottom Line is anchored in our corporate governance framework. Our Vision sets the direction. As a leader in diabetes care, our vision of sustainability is intricately linked to our core business goal: defeating diabetes, helping to achieve health for all people with diabetes.

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This year, we have chosen to focus on access to health. Helping to ensure health for all is a challenge that our industry has a particular responsibility for addressing. Recognising the correlation between health on the one hand, and wealth creation, democratic developments, eco-balance and social equity on the other, it also links directly into the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

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Accuracy, completeness and reliability of information provided in this report are ensured through internal control measures and independent assurance. The report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s) 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the AA1000 Framework. The information provided and the underlying data set have been assured according to the AA1000 Assurance Standard.
Read about data and performance in this report.

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Our set of 20 top-level indicators helps track performance over time (see Indicators of Triple Bottom Line performance). They relate to six strategic areas: living our values, access to health, our employees, our use of animals, eco-efficiency and compliance, and economic contribution. The indicators were defined through consultations with stakeholders, while methods of measuring and targets are set by Novo Nordisk’s management.

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• We can now account for suppliers’ and licence manufacturers’ performance on basic labour rights and environmental management. We evaluated suppliers covering 31% of the total value of purchasing in Novo Nordisk. From 2004 the programme will expand to other business areas and will include audits.
  
  
• Novo Nordisk joined the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), a three-year programme to better define the role of business in human rights, considering the UN Norms.

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• To find new approaches to managing diabetes and other chronic diseases and come across effectively on the public agenda, Novo Nordisk has teamed up with the University of Oxford and the World Health Organization (WHO) to create Oxford Vision 2020.
  
  
• In a partnership with the UK National Health Service and the University of Oxford, Novo Nordisk established the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, which combines basic and clinical research with patient care and medical training.
  
  
• At the Second International DAWN Summit (Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs), 150 delegates from 31 countries issued a ‘call to action’, to take into account the psychosocial impact of diabetes.
  
  
• Under Novo Nordisk’s National Diabetes Programme, which assists governments in implementing strategies for improved diabetes care, affiliates around the world have launched more than 130 initiatives. The programme is backed by new tools, such as the National Diabetes Programmes Toolbox, the Diabetes Atlas and the Guide for Diabetes Guidelines developed in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
  
  
• Novo Nordisk, the WHO and the IDF drafted a Declaration of Africa on Diabetes, with a commitment to prepare an action plan. Following our model for sustainable diabetes care in developing countries, a case study on Tanzania illustrates how results can be achieved through collective efforts. A network of diabetes clinics in conjunction with projects sponsored by the World Diabetes Foundation helps provide education, awareness and treatment.
  
  
• The best possible pricing scheme for Least Developed Countries was offered in the 49 LDCs and 16 chose to purchase insulin under this scheme.
  
  
• A comparative study of diabetes treatment in Denmark and Bangladesh proves a strong argument for the need to invest in better diabetes care in societies, whether rich or poor.

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• To support the internationalisation of Novo Nordisk and to better reflect the increasing diversity in societies, all business units are engaged in the equal opportunities programme. 89% of the targets defined in local action plans were met. The focus is on women in management, integration of ethnic minorities in Denmark, and non-discrimination throughout the employee lifecycle.
  
  
• Health and safety data now cover the entire organisation. Through a focus on prevention, the frequency of occupational injuries continues to decrease; in 2003 the rate was 5.4 as compared to 8.9 in 2002.
  
  
• The TakeAction! programme was launched to provide employees with a formal opportunity to initiate individual or team activities to contribute to sustainable development. It includes fundraising activities, sponsorships and volunteer work at a diabetes centre in Tanzania.

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• In collaboration with the Danish Animal Welfare Society, Novo Nordisk has built a new state-of-the-art facility for rodents and a new rabbit facility, designed to encourage natural behaviour and minimise stress.

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• A five-year Environmental Strategy identifies eight focus areas, the most challenging being climate change. With the first stage of ISO 14001 now implemented, systematic management and data collection support new, innovative approaches.
  
  
• The eco-productivity index for water was 110 and for energy 124, both well above target.
  
  
• Environmental Management Accounting helps to assess costs and investments and to calculate the extent to which benefits to the environment also have a positive impact in monetary terms. Cases indicate potentials for savings.

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• Our financial performance was satisfactory, considering the adverse currency environment, with significant growth in operating profit in local currencies. Novo Nordisk created approximately 800 full-time positions, mainly outside Europe.
  
  
• Examining the interactions between the company and our key economic stakeholders, the economic stakeholder model helps us to better understand Novo Nordisk’s local and global impacts on society.

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• During the year, Novo Nordisk has received 18 awards and recognitions for our sustainability approach and for our reporting. Click here to see a list.