WSIS Forum 2022

For the third year in a row, GCOA partnered with ITU and the WSIS Forum to host the WSIS Forum Special Track on ICTs and Older Persons and again host the WSIS Healthy Ageing Innovation Prize in 2022. Throughout the first week of May, GCOA and WSIS organized a series of sessions examining the potential for digital technologies in an aging world, including how they can help combat age-based discrimination in the workplace, achieve healthier aging, build smarter cities, ensure the financial inclusion of older adults, and support millions of caregivers across the world and in digital inclusion across the generations to enable the Decade of Healthy Ageing. GCOA co-organized this special track in collaboration with stakeholders including Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development (CSEND), E-Seniors, UN Agencies -ITU, WHO, UN DESA, and others.

The WSIS Healthy Ageing Innovation Prize recognizes and award the best digital technologies that support healthy and active aging for adults age 60+ in one of five categories:

    • Alzheimer’s and Cognitive Decline
    • Frailty
    • Immunizations
    • Transportation and Mobility
    • Elder Caregiving

The winner, HiNouNou, and 11 finalists were selected by a panel of international judges and announced the first week of June 2022. The winner and finalists receive a cash prize as well as recognition at the WSIS Forum.

Click here to see descriptions and watch video from each of the sessions ICTs and Older Persons track.

Watch Mike Hodin’s interview below on the significance of the WSIS Special Track on ICTs and Older Person in today’s world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=osCIE5Pn9g0&list=PLpoIPNlF8P2PZ5ASutU7eWwvIRHj50exn&index=4

Latest Developments

We keep our members and partners in touch with the most recent updates and opinions in the worldwide dialogue on population longevity and related issues.

GCOA Sign-on Letter to Governor Spanberger: Consequences of Importing Federal Price Caps on Virginians’ Access to Medicine & Healthy Aging Opportunities

Dear Governor Spanberger: We, the undersigned organizations, bring deep, on‑the‑ground experience serving older Americans, patients managing complex and chronic conditions, and their caregivers across Virginia and nationwide. We also have a clear understanding of which policies and programs are effective and where they fall short.

New Report Summarizes State of Expert Opinions on Japan’s Adult Vaccine Policy as Population Shifts Older

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), and the Asia-Pacific Consortium for Healthy Aging and Adult Immunization (AP-CHAAI) today announced the launch of Strengthening Vaccine Policy for Healthy Aging and Economic Growth in Japan, a landscape analysis examining the state of vaccine policy in super-aging Japan. Based on a comprehensive review of over 100 policy documents, recommendations, reports, academic papers, and gray literature articles, the report, which was funded by GSK, summarizes the latest academic research and policy discourse around adult vaccines.

WSJ Letter to the Editor: How Flu Vaccine Policies Affect the Economy

Your editorial “Vinay Prasad’s Vaccine Kill Shot” (Review & Outlook, Feb. 12) points out that a recent decision by Mr. Prasad, the leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division, will have negative consequences. Mr. Prasad’s decision to reject Moderna’s flu vaccine without even reviewing it is even worse than you describe. Denying us a new, innovative flu vaccine is horrible health policy. Innovation is at risk because, as Moderna’s CEO has said, if the largest market is off limits, investments won’t be made. But the decision will also have economic consequences. Investment in preventive health is critical as our population ages. In its April 2025 World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund dedicated an entire chapter to the need for healthier longevity as the global population ages.

Global Coalition on Aging, Leading G7 Government Officials, Call for Incentivized Antibiotic Innovation

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), in partnership with the Japanese Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association (JPMA), and public health leaders call on G7 governments to fund pull incentives and make “fair share” investments in antibiotic innovation to fight the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis. GCOA, JPMA, and health and government officials from the European Union, Italy, Japan, and United Kingdom recently convened to discuss how G7 countries must respond. GCOA today published a report detailing takeaways from the closed-door meeting, “The Role of G7 Governments in Global Efforts to Encourage Antimicrobial Development Through a Pull Incentive: Challenges and Collaboration.”

2024 AMR Preparedness Index Progress Report Highlights Urgent Need For Global Action Against Antimicrobial Resistance

Today, the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) launched the 2024 AMR Preparedness Index Progress Report. Released in the lead up to the United Nations General Assembly 2024 High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) this September, the 2024 Progress Report assesses how the eleven largest global economies have advanced on calls to action laid out in the 2021 AMR Preparedness Index.

New Global Analysis Across Five Cities Shows Inequities in Adult Immunization Uptake, Signaling Need to Redesign Local and National Policy Interventions

GSK, in collaboration with the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), announced a new report from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science (IQVIA Institute). The report, funded by GSK, explores the role of social and structural determinants of health in adult vaccine access and uptake across five global cities with strong data about their aging populations: Bangkok, Thailand; Brussels, Belgium; Chicago, US; Manchester, United Kingdom; and New York City, US.