Roche Diabetes Care in the U.S. Turns to Social Media to Promote Diabetes Education, Awareness and Advocacy

INDIANAPOLIS, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-CHEK® products and services, has launched dedicated Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote diabetes education, awareness and advocacy. The company has also expanded its current Diabetes Link blog from Canada to North America.

Roche Diabetes Care's Facebook (www.facebook.com/AccuChekUS) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/accuchek_us) accounts have been created with one goal in mind: help people with diabetes, as well as the friends and families who support them, learn more about how to live healthy lives while successfully managing their diabetes. Roche chose the ACCU-CHEK name for its Facebook and Twitter accounts to help its diabetes customers – most of whom know the company's products only by their brand names – more easily find these new social media tools.

The company also reworked its highly successful blog, Diabetes Link (www.accu-chekdiabeteslink.com), to benefit audiences in both Canada and the United States. Diabetes Link was launched in October 2009.

"Living with diabetes is hard, and the many misconceptions, assumptions and half-truths out there don't make it any easier," said Todd Siesky, public relations and social media manager for Roche Diabetes Care in the United States. "There are a great number of diabetes advocates online who are already doing an outstanding job of education and advocacy work on behalf of people living with diabetes. We hope to amplify their voices as well as highlight issues important to everyone in the diabetes online community."

A partial list of some of the most influential diabetes online writers can be found at Diabetes Link (www.accu-chekdiabeteslink.com) under the headline "What We're Reading." Roche has been working with many of these writers for the past two years to better understand how it can support online education, advocacy and awareness issues important to them.

In addition to following @accuchek_us on Twitter and liking Roche's diabetes Facebook page at AccuChekUS, people interested in diabetes are also encouraged to sign up for the latest postings from the Diabetes Link at www.accu-chekdiabeteslink.com.

About Roche Diabetes Care

Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management—from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

For further information, please contact:

Todd Siesky
Public Relations Manager
Roche Diabetes Care
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 521-3966 O
(317) 361-7637 C
[email protected]

SOURCE Roche Diabetes Care