The Chair, Dr. Gaudenz Silberschmidt, Vice Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and Head of International Affairs Division, opened the session by pointing to the heavy burden for the world of non-communicable diseases. He believes that the wealth and experience of the private sector means that it has an important role to play in helping to reduce this burden: "The business of business is not only business".

The global incidence of cancer is on a rise with over 10 million new cancer cases diagnosed per year. More than 6 million annual deaths are attributable to cancer with over 20 million people considered to be living cases of the disease. It is predicted that over the next 20 years, there will be an approximate 200% increase in death rates due to cancer in low-middle income countries. Although the global incidence in high income countries is also rising, the mortality rate is at a slight decline. It is the first time that cancer is on the agenda of this forum, and as the speeches illustrate, the global community has an important role to act upon cancer control.

"I am going to do an impossible thing: I am going to try and present a positive picture of how it is possible to develop solutions..." - Professor R. S. Murthy, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Bangalore, India).

The world is moving at a faster pace than ever before. Technology is advancing considerably and people from varied backgrounds and geographic situations are now able to communicate and interact instantly. The development of health systems in the world has been particularly slow to this transition and organizations all over the world continue to strive to meet these changes by searching for ways to create better access to health care.

With the passing of the World Health Assembly resolution and endorsement, it is the perfect time to address the implementation and strategy objectives for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control. NCDs are responsible for approximately 60 percent of all deaths globally, with figures estimated to increase. A substantial proportion of major chronic diseases (CD), specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes can be prevented.

How can we integrate health care for chronic diseases so that patients are diagnosed, given proper treatment and an appropriate care plan so their disease does not worsen without proper follow-up? Can community engagement really make a difference?

Demographic aging will be one of the most dramatic trends of this century. Populations in developed countries are older, but populations in developing countries are aging faster. Non-communicable diseases are now the biggest killers and population aging is one of the underlying socioeconomic, cultural, political and environmental determinants. Chronic eye diseases such as glaucoma, age related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy are the major causes of blindness worldwide, and their prevalence is increasing due to an aging population and life-style changes.

On behalf of the Geneva University Hospitals, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, and the Forum Organizing Committee, we are delighted to welcome you to the Geneva Forum: Towards Global Access to Health. This second edition of the Geneva Health Forum comes as the result of the success of the first Forum, which took place end of August 2006.