The Health Industry Council and the International Hospital Federation welcomed an international audience of 21 participants from 13 countries to the third biannual World Health Forum (WHF). Participants in the WHF 1998 were nominated by their peers because of a distinguished professional record in their respective fields in their own nations. Countries represented included Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United States. The purpose of the event was to examine emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases from an international perspective, and to develop a set of guidelines and recommendations for proactively managing potential and recurring infectious disease outbreaks. This topic was chosen to provide an opportunity for different nations to come together and respond to the growing international public health threat posed by the increased proliferation of antibiotic-drug-resistant micro-organisms, food-borne illnesses, and emerging and re-emerging outbreaks of infectious diseases.