Prevention and control of NCDs is essential for health and developmentUnder the auspices of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, is organizing an International Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Arab World and the Middle East.

The conference will be held in King Fahd Cultural Centre in Riyadh from 9 to 12 September 2012. The conference aims to create momentum for the implementation of the United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases at the regional level. It is expected that a “Riyadh Declaration” will be adopted at the end of the Conference, to reiterate participants’ commitment, and that of the parties they represent, to making the United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Control and Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases a success story across the Region.