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.

This report is based on insights from an expert roundtable held in June 2021. The roundtable brought together Irish and global experts in health, economics, policy making, and advocacy. Roundtable insights focus on three central themes: equity and the right to statutory home care, home care standards to ensure quality, and person-centred, integrated home care, with participants agreeing to nine key recommendations for the Irish Government across the themes:

1. Implement a common, evidence-based and needs-based assessment tool as part of the statutory home care scheme,
2. Invest in needs-based care built on a standard assessment to help provide care recipients and their families with financial certainty and also reduce health system costs,
3. Implement flexible home support services supported by accessible and transparent to ensure citizens can access the care that best reflects their needs and their wishes,
4. Implement regulation to strengthen home care safety and quality standards,
5. Develop regulatory licensing schemes for all home care providers, including the HSE, to ensure standards of care are set, pursued and achieved,
6. Strengthen governance structures to ensure coordinated care across home care providers, health and social care services and care settings,
7. Revise governance and promote training to provide service users with choice about their home support services and enable flexibility in care decisions,
8. Improve home care supports for family carers by increasing the types and availability of services available, and
9. Strengthen provider governance to ensure service user participation in care planning and outcomes-based, collaborative, personalised care planning across the course of one’s life.

Leaders from four Global Coalition on Aging companies – Uber, Bayer, Philips, and Sanofi – sat down with Mike Hodin to talk about digital technologies and how each company is using technology to improve the health and well-being of older adults around the world, from pushing the envelope on what is possible in medical innovation, to expanding the reach of health prevention, to helping manage last mile logistics to better support people in their homes and in their communities.

The video was created by members of GCOA’s Digital Health Working Group as part of the celebration of the 2021 UN International Day of Older Persons – Digital Equity for All Ages.

GCOA is a key partner in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing Platform. The Platform is an inclusive, collaborative space where all knowledge relevant for the Decade can be accessed, shared, and interacted with in one place by all aging stakeholders around the world. GCOA has not only contributed publications to the Platform but will also play a vital role as a Knowledge Reviewer, helping to evaluate and place submissions to the Platform from other organizations. GCOA was honored to be invited to moderate the official French-language launch of the Platform and to speak on behalf of the private sector at the Spanish-language launch. In total, nearly 1,000 participants from all six WHO regions attended the three launch events in French, Spanish, and English.

Watch the Platform launch event in French:

Watch the Platform launch event in Spanish:

You can view the launch event in English here.

An August 2021 report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, Living in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Health, Finances, and Retirement Prospects of Four Generations, examines the experiences four generations – Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers – and the impacts of the pandemic on their health, employment, financial well-being, and their ability to save and invest for retirement. The report finds that despite six in 10 employed workers (60 percent) having made adjustments due to pandemic-related financial strain, 82 percent are saving for retirement.

The global report — Building the Caregiving Workforce Our Aging World Needs — explores the essential truths that must shape the actions of policymakers, healthcare organizations and professionals, NGOs and other public and private stakeholders when they consider the future of the caregiving workforce, and our ability to more effectively serve older adults around the world.

The recommended actions, presented in the study as part of a crucial road map to build a professional global caregiving workforce, include:

1. Change the perception of the caregiving profession – champion campaigns that transform mindsets about caregiving, from a low-skilled job of last resort to a valued, professional career of the future.
2. Bolster training and education standards – if governments and society acknowledge the value of the care workforce, care providers and governments alike will work to establish quality standards.
3. Support and reward professional caregivers commensurate with the demands of the job and the value they provide – employers across public, private and nonprofit sectors must pay more attention to the emotional and financial needs of professional caregivers – especially if they are to attract young, purpose-driven talent.
4. Fully integrate home care workforce into the health and social-care ecosystem – the professional status of home care workers must keep pace with the demand for and value of this type of care.

Proactive Approach to Healthy Aging: The Role of Inflammation Control & Integrated Care examines how targeting chronic inflammation and chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs) can contribute to healthy aging around the world.

The report offers an important new lens to inform global and national health policy on the biology of aging in the context of the 21^st-century megatrend of aging. It calls for more attention to, further research into and increased leadership for action on the relationship between health innovation and the impact of chronic inflammation and healthier aging.

Aligning with the UN and World Health Organization’s Decade of Healthy Ageing and its focus on integrated care, the report examines how early detection and intervention for chronic inflammation can reduce or reverse damage accrual and lower risk for age-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Chronic inflammatory diseases—such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, and axial spondylarthritis (AxSpa)—offer test cases and starting points for this approach. By bringing greater urgency to better monitoring, earlier detection and diagnosis, more effective treatment is likely to follow, with positive effects on the process of aging. Moreover, health systems can seize an important opportunity to underpin healthier aging, especially for women who often face disparities in disease burden and care. This can lead to greater health systems’ preparedness and resilience and therefore better fiscal management.

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) released  Employers’ Role in the COVID-19 Environment: Winning in the Vastly Changed World of Work. It highlights the unique convergence between the megatrend of aging and the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace and offers insights to inform employers’ public health and workforce strategies at this intersection.

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) released  Employers’ Role in the COVID-19 Environment: Winning in the Vastly Changed World of Work. It highlights the unique convergence between the megatrend of aging and the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace and offers insights to inform employers’ public health and workforce strategies at this intersection.  Chief among the report’s key findings is the guidance to all employers “to elevate public health as a central feature of their culture and embed it into management.”

The report is based on multiple virtual roundtables from late March to December 2020, desk research, and supplemental interviews, analysis and insight development with experts within GCOA’s network.

GCOA has been working with employers for 10 years to navigate the changing workplace and business environment brought by profound aging demographic shifts, which will continue for decades to come. From healthcare to the workplace, aging is the megatrend requiring major changes across society, and COVID-19, as with so much else, has become the accelerator for this trend.