The inequality between North and South is widening every day. Developing countries face a chronic shortfall in financial, technological, and human resources, a heavy burden of widespread communicable disease, and the devastating consequences of socio-political conflicts. Globalisation and new lifestyles have added in recent years to the rapid emergence of "diseases of affluence," among which cardiovascular conditions are the most life-threatening.

There are currently between 8 and 24 million children in the world who were born with congenital malformations, half of whom will die of lack of care before reaching their second birthday. Among the survivors, 5 million, mostly in developing countries, desperately need open-heart surgery. Notably, in addition, it has been estimated that in Low-and Middle-Income countries, approximately 90% of children with heart disease do not have access to cardiovascular centers. For how long will they have to wait? This issue calls for immediate action.

Cardiovascular diseases are rapidly emerging as a significant threat to the health of populations in the developing world. They could offer both a challenge and an opportunity, provided the international community fully understands that by organizing the response now, at the point of emergence, we can prevent them turning into a widespread disaster.

While one cardiovascular center exists for every 120,000 people in the United States, Asia has only one for 16 million people and Africa one for 33 million. Globally, 4.5 billion do not have access to such care. Despite the vast numbers of individuals and organizations scattered worldwide, who deploy relentless humanitarian efforts to tackle this problem, we cannot foresee any marked progress in the near future. It is therefore urgent that around 80 NGO's currently specializing in pediatric cardiac care throughout the world (according to a recent survey in 92 countries), international organizations such as the WHO, the Word Bank or the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as the very supportive medical and pharmaceutical industries create a consensual approach and undertake globally agreed upon action to fight cardiovascular diseases.

This is the purpose of the Global Forum on Humanitarian Medicine in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (GF): that we join all our forces in the struggle to close the gaping disparity between the medical skills and technology of the North and those of the South, and thus make our contribution towards a more equitable world.