Dr. James Hospedales, Senior Advisor for Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), provided opening keynote remarks on chronic disease to frame the half-day program. Ms. Katie Bell, Partner at Gallup Healthcare Group, and Mr. John Harris, Chief Well-Being Officer and Vice President of Innovations with Healthways, presented jointly on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

A panel discussion on current initiatives and prevention efforts around chronic diseases followed with subject experts including Dr. Arun Chockalingam, Director of the Office of Global Health at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Ms. Paulina Duker, Managing Director, Scientific and Medical Division, American Diabetes Association; Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Deputy Director, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke; and Dr. Lorien Abrams, with George Washington University’s Department of Prevention and Community Health.

Over lunch, Ms. Dentzer facilitated a wrap-up discussion asking for final comments and perspectives from the audience. Representatives from Iraq, Nigeria, Eritrea, Nepal, the Gambia, and Suriname, among others, spoke to cultural, economic, and religious challenges in dealing with global health issues. The afternoon concluded having highlighted many critical areas of chronic disease including prevention, education and advocacy efforts, as well as the crucial need for greater cooperation from the international health community.