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.

When Cancer Grows Old: Assessing the Socio-economic Burden of Cancer and Ageing and the Policies Required, a new report released in February 2022, examines the growing socioeconomic impact of cancer amid the global mega-trend of aging and makes recommendations for policies needed to more effectively address the growing burden. With an eleven-fold increased risk of cancer for those age 65 and older, the economic impact of cancer is expected to grow in lockstep with population aging, from 1 to 2% of GDP in 2020 to around 3% by 2040.

The report specifically identifies three areas for improvement in National Cancer Control Plans:

1. insufficient use of geriatric assessments in clinical practice,
2. lack of geriatric training among oncologists, and
3. under-representation of older patients in cancer trials.

When Cancer Grows Old: Assessing the Socio-economic Burden of Cancer and Ageing and the Policies Required was created by KPMG and funded by GCOA member Sanofi.

This research report examines the implementation of national action plans (NAP) to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Egypt, Russia, and South Africa. The report identified seven essential components of sustainable NAP implementation:

• • Strategic vision
  • Participation
  • Coordination
  • Accountability
  • Transparency
  • Sustainability
  • Reporting
  • Feedback mechanisms

Despite different stages of plan development and implementation among the three countries, the report highlighted several shared areas for improvement among the countries, including improving the transparency of funding sources and allocations, regularly reporting progress against AMR goals, and monitoring non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in animal health. The research was conducted by the London School of Economics Consulting with a research grant from GCOA member Merck.

On November 22, 2021, Biogen, the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) launched a report evaluating 10 European countries on how well they are addressing Alzheimer’s disease. The development costs of the 2021 Alzheimer’s Innovation Readiness Index (AIRI) were funded by Biogen. The 2021 AIRI was created in partnership with GCOA and ADI. It is the fourth such collaboration between GCOA and ADI and the first to focus solely on Europe.

The Index was created based on extensive desk research of more than 120 metrics, expert interviews, and survey responses. The main findings include:

• COVID-19 has disrupted implementation, renewal, and funding of national plans
• Data consolidation is a large gap, with countries struggling to establish or develop systems to collect data across the care pathway
• European governments continue to underfund research on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
• Widespread variation within countries creates a postcode lottery in determining access to care
• Care pathways remain difficult to navigate for people living with dementia, caregivers, and healthcare professionals
• Informal caregivers continue to shoulder the brunt of caregiving responsibilities
• Most governments do not have sustained funding to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias

More than 2.2 billion people worldwide have a visual impairment or vision loss, and this number is poised to grow because the risk increases with age. Over 90% of vision impairment worldwide is avoidable. However, an estimated 802 million older people across the world are living with preventable vision loss but have no access to eye care. As part of the agenda for healthy ageing, advocates and stakeholders across the vision and ageing communities must collaborate and communicate to policymakers and the public the importance of good vision and eye health to healthy ageing. Advocates and stakeholders must call upon governments across the world to consistently incorporate vision and eye health across all ages, including older adults, into relevant policy initiatives and commit to implementation.

This advocacy brief, created in partnership with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the International Federation on Ageing, and the European Council of Optometry and Optics, outlines the need for action to support a life course of healthy vision and outlines 6 policy windows to help achieve this.

The Healthy Aging Circle, an expert dialogue presented by GCOA with our member company Bayer, spotlights scientific innovation and multistakeholder collaborations as driving forces to achieve the goals of the UN/WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing. The video features an impressive roster of thought-leading voices from across industry, science, global institutions, and beyond to discuss some of the most exciting innovations in healthy aging to date and their outlook for future advancements.

In addition to GCOA leadership, contributors to the video include Dr. Mike Devoy, Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP of Medical Affairs & Pharmacovigilance, Bayer; Dr. Nir Barzilai, Director of the Einstein-Institute for Aging Research and Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Jisella Dolan, Chief Global Advocacy Officer, Home Instead; Caitlin Donovan, Global Head, Uber Health; Amal Abou Rafeh, Chief of Programme on Global Aging and Development, UN DESA; Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union; Julie M. Viola, Business Marketing Manager, Connected Care Informatics and Virtual Care, Philips; Dr. Lothar Roessig, Group Head, Clinical Development, Bayer Pharmaceuticals; Brian Drozdowicz, SVP, Head of Integrated Care, Digital Health, Bayer; Andre Belelieu, Head of Insurance & Asset Management Industry, World Economic Forum; and Joe Coughlin, Founder & Director, MIT AgeLab.

GCOA’s Digital Health Working Group (DHWG) brings together members from across sectors to share ideas, initiatives, best practices, and policies related to digital health technologies. The goal of the DHWG is to  advance the application of digital technologies to support healthier aging for more people around the globe. Watch the video below to learn more about some of the exciting work of the DHWG and its members.

In May 2021, the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) hosted a second joint roundtable on the challenges of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in super-aging Japan. The roundtable brought together Japanese and global experts in aging and infectious disease, examining in particular the coupled crises of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and a lack of antibiotic innovation. In November 2021, the two organizations issued a report, “Taking Action for AMR Preparedness: Spurring Antibiotic Innovation for Healthy Ageing in Super-Ageing Japan,” based on the key findings from the roundtable. The report outlines the impact of AMR on older adults and the dire consequences for fiscal sustainability and economic growth while offering a roadmap for urgent action.

In November 2021, GCOA released a report linking 21^st century employer benefits to a new social contract for how to meet growing employee needs in our aging society.

The new report, Shining a Spotlight on Caregiving: Employer Practices Through a Policy Lens, offers five principles that will transform how we understand and approach this topic:

1. Work should not inhibit high quality care, and vice versa.
2. Individuals and families should be able to support themselves financially through all levels of caregiving, both as caregivers and care recipients.
3. All family caregivers should receive sufficient support, regardless of whether they care for children or older family members.
4. Caregiver support policies should help caregivers and care recipients address Covid-19 and recover from long term impacts of the pandemic.
5. Longevity economics will be significantly improved by shining a spotlight on the value added through caregiving activities.

In May 2021, GCOA and the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) hosted a private roundtable of Japanese and global experts and decision makers to examine the connection between innovation for healthy aging and economic growth in super-aging Japan and other rapidly aging societies across the OECD. The roundtable and subsequent report, released in October 2021 in both English and Japanese, concluded that spending on health innovation must be treated as an investment for the fiscal health of the Japan and similarly aging countries. The expert discussion identified incentives to spur health innovation and support economic growth, which are outlined in the report, Incentivizing Innovation for Healthy Ageing and Economic Growth in Super-Ageing Japan.

The roundtable and report connect to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, the UN and World Health Organization Decade of Healthy Ageing, and the OECD promotion of lifelong social participation as a 21^stcentury path to achieve healthier and fiscally sound societies. Such sentiments were powerfully echoed during the roundtable and reflected in the report.