Demographic aging is transforming all societies around the world, and this 21stcentury megatrend demands a similar transformation of global health policy. Now and in the coming decades, the World Health Organization can build on efforts like its Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Ageing and Health to apply population aging as a guiding lens for global health policies, particularly those related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It’s the mother of all untapped markets: the world’s 65-plus population. Already at a historical high of over 600 million people, it’s projected to hit a full billion by 2030, and 1.6 billion by 2050. And unlike many other fast-growing markets, this expansion will take place primarily in wealthy countries. As

It is the modern epidemic claiming a new victim every three seconds. Fifty million people in the world have the disease now, and that number is forecast to double over the next 20 years, and every 20 years thereafter.

Along with parenting, balancing work and caring for older family members will become a central struggle for Americans over the next several decades. Many of these people are your employees, or will be.

Aging Today’s end-of-year 2018 In Focus section, “Global Aging and the Future of the World Community,” is prescient as it is the perfect set-up to 2019, which heralds the tipping point for the mega-trend of population aging.