In October 2022, GCOA’s Bone Health Initiative (BHI) launched two white papers outlining key imperatives for advancing bone health in the Decade of Healthy Ageing.

More Than Just a Fracture: A Call to Action on Osteoporosis and Bone Health in the Context of Healthy Aging calls for a new approach to osteoporosis diagnosis and for the WHO to drive efforts to update the way in which fragility fractures are identified and therefore how osteoporosis is acted upon globally. In doing so, the WHO — with partners in the bone health and aging spaces — has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for tens of millions of people worldwide as they age and reduce the soaring costs to health care systems through more effective attention to osteoporosis-related fragility fractures as an indicator of osteoporosis. The paper calls on the WHO to create a code in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD 11) for osteoporosis-related fragility fractures describing fractures related to deteriorated bone structure.

Healthy Bones for Healthy Aging: How the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Model Can Leverage Bone Health to Improve Well-Being, Sustain Independence and Support Health Care Financing calls attention to the importance of integrated care for older people in relation to bone health. Integrating bone health into ICOPE can revolutionize how osteoporosis is treated regarding patient outcomes and health care savings. Doing so can also help ensure a person-centered approach to osteoporosis and help prevent millions of primary and secondary fragility fractures – adding healthy life years for every affected older person. The paper outlines that a new strategy to address osteoporosis and bone health through integrated care will help empower healthy and active aging.

Through communications, education, and advocacy, the BHI focuses on aligning policy change and healthcare practices in line with 21st-century healthy aging realities to ensure the highest quality of life possible for those with or at risk of osteoporosis and, at the same time, reduce the costly impact of osteoporosis and fragility fractures on our health systems.

On Thursday, September 29, 2022, Global Coalition on Aging, in partnership with GCOA Member Amgen, presented the Asia-Pacific Healthy Aging Summit: Advancing Disease Prediction and Prevention, which brought together leaders from the region with global leaders to find the policy solutions necessary for a healthier and more active aging across the region.

Speakers included Naoko Ueda of OECD, Roxana Widmer-Iliescu of ITU,  Alana Officer of WHO, and Ryoji Noritake of Health and Global Policy Institute among many other esteemed experts and thought leaders.

GCOA, in partnership with Renmin University, convened the first-ever China Healthy Aging Cities Forum, on July 28, 2022. The Forum highlighted positive policy actions in Beijing and other Chinese and global cities to support healthy aging, with adult immunization generally and COVID-19 vaccination success for older adults in particular as key examples.

The discussion, which brought together both Chinese and global experts, explored lessons learned from Beijing’s leadership and the changed landscape from Covid-19 vaccination and provided insights for a report on critical policy steps Beijing can take, what other Chinese cities can learn, and for application at the national level to enable healthier and more active aging, critical for a successful 21^st century economy and society.

The China Healthy Aging Cities Forum and Report build on the framework of the WHO Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities and  momentum from the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, GCOA’s Silver Economy platform, and the China Development Forum interest in “Revitalizing Aging China.”

As our society ages, we need to ensure that older people are empowered to decide how they want to live, what they want to do, and what type of healthcare works best for their situation. Unfortunately, healthcare rationing by age, where patients are withheld access to treatments, is still one of the most widespread forms of ageism.

In September 2022, the Global Coalition on Aging and Nutricia presented a call to action to break with preconceived, ageist notions and lead to activities that empower individual healthcare engagement and decision-making regardless of age.

In September 2022, GCOA, Immunize Canada, and other leading organizations across Canada  partnered on a unique public education campaign highlighting the need and opportunity for Canada’s caregivers to protect themselves against influenza.

The campaign featured an infographic and sharable social media materials, in both English and French, providing usable data about influenza and immunization – including where, how, and why to get vaccinated – directly to Canada’s 8 million caregivers. The infographics can be downloaded in either English or French using the buttons below, and the social cards are available for download in English and in French at those links.

The education campaign materials were developed in consultation with more than a dozen organizations across Canada, from caregiver and patient organizations, to academic and research institutions and private sector experts.

In August 2022, Georgetown University’s AgingWell Hub released its the first No Normal Retirement Journey Map and Guide, a practical and interactive tool for re-imagining and charting paths to and through retirement. The Journey Map draws on the expertise of twenty-nine of the world’s leading experts on life in retirement – including GCOA CEO Mike Hodin and GCOA members Bank of America, Home Instead, and Transamerica – as well as a comprehensive review and integration of findings from more than 200 pieces of research on the evolving nature of retirement.

This new resource offers individuals tools to visualize and plan the various stages, events and decision points along the retirement journey, and the personal, emotional, and financial consequences of each. The Journey Map illustrates how six primary levers—health, finances, learning, purpose, community, and resilience—can be used to navigate the journey to a happy, financially secure and fulfilled life after a full-time career.

The Retirement Journey Map was developed by the Georgetown AgingWell Hub, designed by Human Spark, and commissioned through the support of the Alliance for Lifetime Income’s Retirement Income Institute.

In April of 2022, Global Coalition on Aging convened a cross-disciplinary and cross-sector group of global experts to consider public policy changes necessary for continued biomedical innovation that will enable 21^st century healthy longevity. The roundtable was convened by GCOA to take action in support of the global UN/WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing and in response to the proximate challenges to health and longevity highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This roundtable and report were made possible by support from GCOA member Eli Lilly & Company.

The roundtable identified five key principles to frame how today’s and tomorrow’s health value propositions should be judged and four calls-to-action which would transform how health innovation is recognized and rewarded in order to foster healthy aging in the 21^st century.

A June 2022 report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) in collaboration with Transamerica Institute finds that fewer than three in 10 workers (29 percent) believe they are saving enough for retirement. The report, Emerging from the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Retirement Outlook of the Workforce, is part of TCRS’ 22nd Annual Retirement Survey, one of the largest and longest-running surveys of its kind. The new report examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the health and financial well-being and retirement outlook of the workforce. It highlights the urgent need to strengthen the U.S. retirement system and outlines recommendations for doing so.

The 22nd Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey polled a nationally representative sample of more than 10,000 people in late 2021. This report is based on 5,000+ people who self-identified as employed full-time or part-time by other, self-employed, or unemployed but looking for work.

In late 2021, GCOA convened a cross-sector group of Canadian and global experts and caregivers for a roundtable discussion to examine the critical importance of vaccinating Canada’s caregivers against influenza, current barriers, and opportunities for action to improve awareness and uptake of the vaccines. Following the roundtable, GCOA released a report, Tip of the Iceberg: Vaccinating Canadian Caregivers Against Influenza, which summarized the key insights and takeaways from the discussion.

The report included three broad calls to action for Canada:

• Collect evidence on the burden and cost of influenza on caregivers, the Canadian healthcare system and society and identify best practices that can reduce the burden.
• Expand access to vaccines, including where vaccines can be administered and by whom, engaging employers in this effort.
• Develop wide-reaching and targeted education materials in which caregivers can recognize themselves.

A new report by the Global Coalition on Aging, 21^st Century Health System Resilience: Lessons From the Pandemic on Innovation and Healthy Aging explores the imperative for global health care systems to realign in order to accelerate innovation to meet the challenges – and opportunities – posed by the scientific miracle of longevity and the aging of society. The report was made possible through support from GCOA members and a generous sponsorship from Biogen.

The United Nations’ and World Health Organization’s recently launched Decade of Healthy Ageing is a welcome sign that global policymakers understand the need to make health systems more responsive to the demands of aging societies.

According to the report, “Fully aligning health care systems to a world with 2.1 billion people over age 60 by mid-century will require innovation on a massive scale that can only be achieved by fundamentally re-examining the way countries regulate and reimburse the treatments we will need to care for our growing aging populations.”

Most national health systems were created to provide and pay for acute care – where people are treated for brief but severe periods of illness.  The “disease-cure” model worked when lifespans were short and diseases of aging were more rare.  But it is not designed for a world where billions of people live for decades with steadily worsening conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

The report outlines several potential areas of reform:

• Adopting patient-centered metrics based on functional ability for measuring success in health care.
• Emphasizing early detection and management of diseases to promote functional ability.
• Accelerating innovation across drug development.
• Expanding the discussion to include a broader range of stakeholders beyond traditional health ministries.
• Adopting a more comprehensive approach to valuing new innovations to account for costs such as informal care often required to handle the diseases of aging.

“Reimagining healthcare systems to meet the needs of healthy aging and an overall healthier society has been proven in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Michael W. Hodin, CEO of GCOA. “Policymakers must recognize the value of these investments and the power that comes with enabling better prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In our aging world, to continually innovate must be a scientific, political and investment priority.”

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:

In April of 2022, Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Chile and the Republic of the Philippines, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and the World Demographic & Ageing Forum (WDA Forum) Global Longevity Council, hosted an official side event of the 55th Session of the Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations in New York to launch “Living Longer Around the World: Opportunities and Challenges,” a new report authored by the WDA Forum Global Longevity Council. The report offers positions for policy makers and strategy planners based on age demographics to 2035 for 31 countries representing all levels of economic development, 70% of the global population, and 76% of global GDP.

The speakers from around the world included:

• • Chargé d’Affaires a.i, René Ruidíaz, Permanent Mission of Chile and Chair of the Group of Friends of Older Persons in New York
  • H.E. Mrs. Francisca Perales, Vice Minister of Social Services, Ministry of Social Development and Family of Chile
  • H.E. Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines, Chair of the Bureau of the 55^th Commission on Population and Development
  • H.E. Ambassador Boštjan Malovrh, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations
  • Dr. Hans Groth, Chair of the World Demographic & Ageing (WDA) Forum
  • Dr. Pol Vanderbroucke, Chair of the WDA Forum Global Longevity Council
  • Dr. Yosuke Kita, Counselor, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
  • Ms. Bernardita Canals, Consultant at National Service for the Elderly Adults (SENAMA), Government of Chile
  • Dr. Karoline Schmid, Chief, Fertility and Population Ageing Section, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
  • Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair for Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute; Member, WDA Global Longevity Council
  • Dr. Gloria Langat, Aging and Development Unit, African Population and Health Research Centre, Kenya; Member, WDA Global Longevity Council

This document, Supporting Healthy Aging with a Hospitable Innovation Environment: Consensus on Policy Reforms and Actions, outlines a set of core policy principles to enable the advancement of innovation, but also to ensure broader, deeper and more equitable access to ongoing innovation advances. It is based on insights and consensus achieved at a multi-sector stakeholder roundtable organized by GCOA in late 2021. The roundtable dialogue considered the public policy and market shifts stemming from otherwise very different, but equally visible health crises over the past four decades – HIV, COVID-19, and noncommunicable diseases – and brought about a unique joint understanding of the innovation solutions that mitigated the crises, immensely improving lives, creating value for society and providing a basis for reducing the associated economic and fiscal burdens. 

Preventable visual impairment is a missed opportunity that is growing in prevalence as the population ages. Age-related visual impairments, like presbyopia – which first begins to impact people around age 40, at the prime of their working lives – remain an underrecognized priority for governments and employers alike. 

Left unaddressed, presbyopia and other preventable visual impairments will have cascading impacts across healthcare and the 21st century workplace. This infographic, created in partnership with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, outlines many of the these impacts and associated costs. The paper calls for actions by policymakers and employers to prevent avoidable visual impairments like presbyopia and help enable the participation of adults of all ages across society, in the workplace, and at home.

The Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) released its latest report, State of Home Care: Industry at a Crossroads, in February 2022, in partnership with GCOA. This report showcases data, industry challenges, and new policy priorities concerning the state of home care in the United States. The report calls on home care industry leaders and policymakers to unite around initiatives that address the rapidly growing demand for care and to help Americans age in their own homes with comfort, safety, and independence.

The COVID-19 pandemic put home care at the epicenter of a national discussion about the importance, safety, and value of care for older Americans. From how and where people want to age, to who will care provide care, to how Americans will pay for it, the future of America’s long-term care system hangs in the balance for millions of people and the workforce who provides the care they rely on at home. Click here to learn more about the report.

This series of infographics and policy brief outline the challenges that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses to governments, societies, and healthcare systems in the EU, Japan, and the United States. The infographics describe the burden of drug resistant infections in each of the regions, including economic impacts, as well as explain some of the challenges related to the development of new antibiotics to replace those that are rapidly becoming ineffective. Each piece suggests a clearly defined set of actions that policymakers should take to begin to address the growing global threat of AMR. These materials were released alongside GCOA’s provocative new paper Wonder Drugs Vs. Superbugs: The 21st Century Battle to Save 10 Million Lives a Year.

This startling paper, published by the Global Coalition on Aging in February 2022, asks readers to imagine a world in which commonly used medicines no longer protect us from disease and suggests four steps for leaders in government, business, and across society to help avert the public health crisis widely referred to simply as antimicrobial resistance, or AMR.

Following on the release of the first comprehensive analysis of the global impact of AMR, published in The Lancet in late January 2022, the GCOA paper aims to demystify the terminology and clearly lay out the global threat posed by rising drug resistance and accompanying lack of effective new drugs in the development pipeline.

The paper was released alongside a series of regional infographics and Calls to Action on AMR for the United States, the European Union, and Japan.

In October 2021, as a partner of the OECD Forum, GCOA brought together experts for a virtual dialogue on the topic: “Investing in Health Innovation for OECD Ageing Societies: Models for Healthier, Active, and Fiscally Sustainable 21st-Century Ageing.” More than 20 cross-sector, cross-discipline global stakeholders discussed the health and economic imperatives for new solutions that enable healthy ageing, including representatives of the Japanese government, private companies, patient groups, and researchers. 

The roundtable identified promising pathways for OECD countries to galvanize new innovations to predict, prevent, and address age-related health challenges, mitigate the costs of these challenges, and ensure fiscal sustainability in a world of more old than young. While the roundtable participants were clear on the importance of access and reimbursement for healthy ageing in OECD societies, it was emphasized that innovation for new and much-needed solutions, including therapies, vaccines, digital technologies, and models of care, must first be realized.