WHO Global Forum IV on Chronic Disease Prevention and Control

Closing Remarks

In closing the WHO Global IV Forum, Dr. Sylvie Stachenko thanked participants for their intense and energetic hard work. Dr. Stachenko was at the first Global Forum, which was a pioneering idea for developing this mechanism to advance the chronic disease prevention and control agenda. Over the years, the Global Forum has evolved to address more practical, specific areas such as systems issues related to policy, planning and participation. Dr. Stachenko emphasized the important role of Forum participants in making a difference to global and national chronic disease prevention and control.

Dr. Robert Beaglehole commented on the forthright, energetic and enthusiastic discussions that had advanced understanding and shared knowledge over the course of WHO Global Forum IV. He acknowledged the importance of the economic discussions and thanked NGO representatives for accending.

Dr. Beaglehole also noted that this Forum was at a transition point where it was important to think about the future of the event in advancing Global Forum objectives. He emphasized the importance of the six WHO Regional Networks that will continue to be a focus to support chronic disease prevention and control, as well as the need to refflect on how to build on these regional networks to advance the global agenda. In closing, he asked participants to refflect on how they can act in their countries to advance the Global Forum agenda in tandem with the Millenium Development Goals.

In their evaluations of Global Forum IV, participants described their experience as exhilarating, dynamic, interactive and focused. They indicated an increased commitment to future action on the three Forum themes: policy, participation and planning.

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