The United Nations High Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases: a missed opportunity?

The United Nations High Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (September 19-20, 2011) provided an opportunity to recast the current global health agenda and offered a formidable platform to mobilize political will for concerted action. We argue that the opportunity was missed because the World Health Organization (WHO) neglected the politics of process that are key to mobilizing political support for global noncommunicable disease policies. Instead, it focused on the implementation process. The lessons to be drawn from the summit are critical because the WHO is the key agency that will be expected in the near future to steer further discussions and debate on the noncommunicable disease agenda.