For too long, non-communicable diseases - cancer, cardiovascular
disease, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes - have been a
hidden epidemic. As described by United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon, they represent a "public health emergency
in slow motion". Progress to date on NCDs has been vastly
inadequate and has resulted in the global catastrophe we find
ourselves in today. To address this shortcoming, governments
recently held a landmark United Nations Summit in September 2011
in New York where world leaders (including over 30 Heads of
State in attendance) declared NCDs a global priority and
committed to taking actions to address the crisis. A recent
study by the World Economic Forum and Harvard University
estimates that NCDs will cost the world economy $47 trillion
over the next 20 years, representing 75 percent of global GDP
and surpassing the cost of the global financial crisis. And yet,
the World Health Organization estimates that a basic package of
cost effective strategies to prevent and