Minister clarifies diabetes centre rejection

The enquiry from the Novo Nordisk Foundation was just that: an enquiry, not a formal application to build a diabetes centre in the Faroes.

This was the key point of health minister Sirið Stenberg’s response to criticism from MPs and prominent health professionals after the Ministry of Health recently wrote to the Novo Nordisk Foundation saying that there are currently no plans for such a collaboration.

According to the minister, the Novo Nordisk Foundation had asked the health ministry whether there was any interest in a possible collaboration between Faroese authorities and the Danish pharma giant’s foundation.

No final decision has been made yet, as the matter has not been sufficiently debated.

The minister added that such a collaboration carries with it many questions of principle and ethics which the Faroese authorities are unable answer at this stage.

She said that the most sensible thing to do now is to debate the matter in Parliament and then make a firm decision.

Since the news of the proposed diabetes collaboration broke earlier this month, Faroese health researchers have indicated that the enquiry from the Novo Nordisk Foundation also included an offer of significant funding for research.

However, Stenberg insisted that research funding was never mentioned in the communication between the two parties.

Translated by prosa.fo