The Prevention and Control of Chronic Disease:

In calling for a United Nations Summit on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the U.N. Secretary-General's report determined that the main non-communicable diseases - cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory - which have traditionally afflicted mostly high-income populations now affect the developing world and lower-income populations the hardest. The report concluded that ʺthe ability already exists to counteract the non-communicable disease epidemic, thus saving millions of lives, preventing untold suffering and reducing enormous costs. Knowing how to reduce such diseases is not the problem; the problem is lack of action.ʺ

In anticipation of the upcoming UN Summit on NCDs, Meridian International Center, in collaboration with Gallup and Healthways, is hosting a half-day colloquium on the methods for prevention, treatment, and management of chronic diseases. In addition to hearing from U.S. and international health experts on advances and developments for the prevention and control of major chronic diseases, the program will include discussions of U.S. policy with regard to healthcare, including the Medicare and Medicaid systems. Dr. James Hospedales, Senior Advisor for Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases at the Pan American Health Organization, will provide keynote remarks to open the program. Mr. John Harris, Chief Well-Being Officer and Vice President Innovations with Healthways and Ms. Katie Bell, Partner, Gallup Healthcare Group, will present on The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents' health and well-being.

A panel discussion on the major non-communicable diseases will follow and include Dr. Lorien Abroms, Public Health Communication & Marketing, George Washington University, Dr. Arun Chockalingam, Director, Office of Global Health at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Ms. Paulina N. Duker, Managing Director, Scientific and Medical Division, American Diabetes Association; and Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Deputy Director, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Program attendees will include a group of health experts from 22 different countries who are visiting the U.S. as participants in the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).