A global coordinating platform for noncommunicable diseases

There is a long history of advocacy to place noncommunicable diseases higher on the global public health agenda. Although attempts have been made and action is well under way, there is still a lack of a coordinating mechanism that helps identify action, tracks progress, and stimulates multistakeholder collaboration while preventing duplication of efforts. The fast-approaching United Nations High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases and the call by all parties for more efficient responses to the growing problems of noncommunicable diseases presents a unique opportunity to create an institutional mechanism that incentivizes coordination. An apex coordinating arrangement would allow efficient global information exchange, mapping existing gaps in action, and identifying and catalyzing collaboration across sectors and regions of the world.