Ascensia Diabetes Care Launches Global Social Media Initiative to Support World Diabetes Day 2016

BASEL, Switzerland, November 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Today, Ascensia Diabetes Care is showing its support for World Diabetes Day by launching a global social media awareness initiative to highlight the positive role of mobile technology in the management of diabetes. The initiative is designed to reach a global audience via social media channels and mobilize members of the public to support World Diabetes Day by using their mobile phones to raise awareness of diabetes. Through these efforts, Ascensia Diabetes Care aims to demonstrate the importance of mobile technology and connectivity in helping people living with diabetes to better understand and manage their condition.

As part of the initiative, Ascensia has taken photos of their employees, people with diabetes, healthcare professionals and members of the public in various locations worldwide using illuminated mobile phones to spell out the word "DIABETES". The initiative encourages members of the public to like, share or react to these digital postcards from across the world on their social media channels to show individual support for World Diabetes Day.

The use of mobile devices in diabetes management is increasing, with more and more people with diabetes using their mobile devices to help manage and track their condition. A survey of 909 people with diabetes in several European countries has shown that 71% of people with diabetes own a smartphone, 42% of them are using their smartphones for health or prescription drug information and 52% of them who are using a health or wellness app say they have changed their behavior as a result^[1]. Advances in mobile technology are making it easier to collect, share, and draw insights from collected and analyzed information, empowering patients to help manage their condition using applications that seamlessly integrate into their lives.

"We are very excited to be participating in our first World Diabetes Day as a standalone company," explained Michael Kloss, CEO of Ascensia Diabetes Care. "We are proud to lend our support to raising awareness for this condition. As a company that is 100% focused on diabetes, we are passionate about helping to improve the lives of people with diabetes."

The theme of World Diabetes Day 2016 is "Eyes on Diabetes", promoting the importance of screening to encourage early diagnosis and treatment of type 2 diabetes, and help reduce the risk of serious complications. The use of mobile devices with diabetes management apps may help support testing and long-term management of diabetes.  

Michael added, "Diabetes is a difficult disease to manage and there are many challenges for patients and healthcare professionals across the world. We believe that digital tools and mobile devices have the potential to help individuals consistently track their condition, by providing accurate, actionable information that may facilitate diabetes management."

To see this activity and lend your support for World Diabetes Day by liking or sharing our digital postcards, visit Ascensia Diabetes Care's Twitter and Facebook and Instagram pages.

Notes for Editors

About Ascensia Diabetes Care 

Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. Our mission is to empower people living with diabetes through innovative solutions that simplify and improve their lives. We use our innovation and specialist expertise in diabetes to develop high quality solutions and tools that make a positive, daily difference for people with diabetes.

Home to the world renowned CONTOUR™ portfolio of blood glucose monitoring systems, our products combine advanced technology with user-friendly functionality that help people with diabetes to manage their condition. We are committed to continued research, innovation and development of new products and solutions. As a trusted partner in the diabetes community, we collaborate closely with healthcare professionals and other partners to ensure our products meet the highest standards of accuracy, precision and reliability, and that we conduct our business compliantly and with integrity.

Ascensia Diabetes Care was established in 2016 through the sale of Bayer Diabetes Care to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. Ascensia Diabetes Care products are sold in more than 125 countries. Following the close of the transaction in all countries, Ascensia Diabetes Care will have around 1,700 employees and operations in 38 countries.

For further information please visit the Ascensia Diabetes Care website at: http://www.ascensia.com.

CONTOUR™ is a registered trademark of Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings AG.

For more information please contact:
Joseph Delahunty
FTI Consulting
joseph.delahunty@fticonsulting.com
Tel: +44(0)20-3727-1000

References

^[1] Multichannel Consumer Health Marketing 2015. Cybercitizen Health® Europe 2014, Bayer EU9