WHO: The Decade of Healthy Ageing: a new U.N.-wide initiative
“The United Nations General Assembly [Monday] declared 2021-2030 the Decade of Healthy Ageing. ‘Today’s announcement of the U.N. Decade of Healthy Aging sends a clear signal that it is only by working as one, within the United Nations system and with governments, civil society, and the private sector, that we will be able to not only add years to life, but also life to years,’ said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. … The U.N. Resolution, which follows recent endorsement of the Decade by the World Health Assembly, expresses concern that, despite the predictability of population aging and its accelerating pace, the world is not sufficiently prepared to respond to the rights and needs of older people. It acknowledges that the aging of the population impacts our health systems but also many other aspects of society, including labor and financial markets and the demand for goods and services, such as education, housing, long-term care, social protection, and information. It thus requires a whole-of-society approach…” (12/14).