Diabetes Voice had the pleasure of speaking with Sir George Alleyne shortly after the UN Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) conference took place in Melbourne between 30 August and 1 September 2010 on the theme Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs. Sir George highlighted the central role of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in global health and development in his keynote speech at the close of the event.