Novo Nordisk, the global leader in diabetes care has been awarded a 2008 Medical Design Excellence Award for NovoFine Autocover, a needle for insulin injection designed especially to reduce the risk of needle stick injuries and help people with diabetes who suffer from needle anxiety.

Each year, around 1,000 healthcare professionals in the US are injured by serious infections from needle sticks and sharps. Needle-stick injuries are preventable. American Nurses Association estimates that more than 80 per cent of needle-stick injuries could be prevented with the use of safer needle devices.

Needle-stick injuries can expose healthcare professionals to serious infections as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.

NovoFine Autocover is designed to conceal the needle during injection and
may therefore help diabetes patients overcome needle anxiety. As many as 10 per cent of people with diabetes suffer from a fear of needles, to the point where they actually avoid injections.

NovoFine Autocover has currently been launched in the US, UK, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Ireland. It is used with the Novo Nordisk FlexPen and other Novo Nordisk insulin injection devices.

Since its inception in 1998, the Medical Design Excellence Awards programme has become the premier competition for the medical technology industry, recognizing both the design achievements and healthcare contributions of medical product manufacturers. The award programme is sponsored by Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry (MD&DI)) magazine. Entries excel in the areas of product innovation, design and engineering achievement, end-user benefit, and cost-effectiveness in manufacturing and healthcare delivery.