Health reform is badly needed in many countries in the developing world in order to stop the burden of catastrophic healthcare costs remaining on the shoulders of individual families. We talked to Dr. Frenk, Minister of Health for Mexico, where an important healthcare system reform was launched in 2003. The reform implemented, among other things, a 7-year plan to finance "el seguro popular" or popular insurance.

Mr. Salih Meky, Minister of Health of Eritrea, spoke with us about achievements and challenges in the field of health in his country and Africa more generally. In Eritrea, health care is free of charge. The country has managed to keep under control a number of infectious diseases, but faces the increasing challenge of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Hospital costs are a major issue. Minister Meky also questioned whether there was a simple solution to the brain drain, but urged that it needed to be addressed not just by the South, but also by the wealthy countries in the North.

The final plenary session of the "Geneva Forum: Towards Global Access to Health" was dedicated to summarizing the key issues which emerged during the three days of discussion and exchange and to formulate suggestions on how to develop these issues in the future. The final plenary was also a moment to thank all the contributors of the Forum for their effort and participation.

The global phenomena of massive migration of health professionals and the advent of e-Health solutions are evidence of the fact that significant trends in health are no longer regional. Worldwide, doctors, nurses and ancillary staff are increasingly seeking better prospects for themselves, not only in the northern economic powerhouses but also in developing countries. However, a severe lack of knowledge-sharing mechanisms and appropriate funding has meant that patients and health professionals in poor countries are still denied the opportunity to benefit from pioneering e-Health programmes now being developed in countries such as the UK and Canada.

The session addressed the various manners in which gender and social inequalities may negatively impact on population health and general wellbeing. It further looked at ways in which women can be empowered to allow them to develop a holistic approach to their specific health and other related needs. Examples showed that implementing gender-based analysis can produce profound changes in the treatment of women's specific problems.

Populations of modern Europe live in different national socio-economic settings, making the study, evaluation and comparison of their respective healthcare systems a complex exercise. Correspondingly, health inequalities within this vast region are also intricate and multiple. The three speakers provided interesting insights on the different determinants of these inequalities, mainly focusing on the roles played by the public and private sectors, whilst revealing the often misconceived correlation between the inequality in access to healthcare and the private and/or public delivery of healthcare services.

The fifth largest nation in the world does not have sufficient access to health. Indeed if migrants were seen as a country, they would represent a significant nation in terms of population. How can we explain that so many people do not have access to health care? The focus of this symposium, chaired by Anita Davies from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and Sandro Cattacin from the University of Geneva, was on the unequal provision of health services for migrants.

How can we increase a vulnerable person's chances of being healthy? We know there are social factors that determine access to health care, but little progress has been made in knocking down these barriers. How can a new generation of researchers, institutions and health care providers overcome the social determinants of socio-economic status, culture, political instability, lack of political voice and gender inequities that block them from reaching those who need help most? This session focused on work being done to research social determinants; systematize the body of knowledge and to apply it in diverse settings. As the first speaker, Eugenie Villar, pointed out, we are not just interested in knowledge. We need to connect knowledge to effective health policies and programmes.