[ExI] Aging is now included into the WHO work program. Thanks!

Wed Jan 31 15:01:59 UTC 2018

Dear friends,

Following the previous extensive correspondence and the recent WHO
Executive Board Meeting that was completed on January 27, I felt it was
necessary to provide an update on the campaign that many longevity
activists were conducting for the inclusion of aging health into the WHO
work program.

*Briefly: Congratulations, the longevity activists have won!*

Thanks to the international advocacy campaign, WHO now has included a
strong focus on “healthy aging” into the new WHO draft work program.

See the latest work program draft in English and all the 6 UN official
languages (as of January 2018)

http://www.who.int/about/what-we-do/gpw-thirteen-consultation/en/

http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB142/B142_3-en.pdf?ua=1

See especially paragraphs 15, 16, 17, 37, including the *WHO commitment to
advance the Global Strategy and Action Plan (GSAP) on Ageing and Health* (until
2020, including the strategic objective 5 for “improving measurement,
monitoring and understanding of healthy ageing”) and to *prepare for the
Decade of Healthy Aging* (2020-2030).

Perhaps the most significant for advocacy is that Paragraph 17 of the work
program declares that “*Ensuring healthy ageing is an urgent challenge in
all countries*” and Paragraph 15 declares the major public health goal
“*to live
not just long but also healthy lives*” and suggests *the use of “healthy
life expectancy” as the main measure of health care success*. Such goals
and measures for healthy longevity can be advocated and quoted also at the
national and local level.

So thanks again to everybody who participated in the campaign to include
aging health into the WHO work program for your contribution! Here the head
of the WHO Ageing and Life Course division acknowledges the importance of
this campaign for the change of the program, and quotes the article “Aging
health and R&D for healthy longevity must be included into the WHO work
program” as an example of the successful joint advocacy effort.

https://twitter.com/DrJohnBeard/status/938418218473082881

http://www.aginganddisease.org/article/0000/2152-5250/147696

*Hopefully, this advocacy will continue, to ensure healthy longevity is not
just planned, but actively advanced and implemented.* If you organize or
are involved in further longevity advocacy campaigns – either for specific
topics (like the one for the WHO) or specific dates and occasions, as was
practiced in the past – e.g. the Jeanne Calment day on February 21
(commemorating the longest-lived human), the Future Day on March 1
(particularly to celebrate emerging health technologies), The World Health
Day on April 7, the Elie Metchnikoff Day on May 15 (commemorating the
founder of gerontology), or the Longevity Day/Month in October – please
share your plans and actions, so we could perhaps coordinate together and
create a stronger impact!

Thankfully,

Ilia Stambler, PhD

Chief Science Officer. Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Senior Citizens
Movement (Israel)

http://www.longevityisrael.org/

Outreach coordinator. International Society on Aging and Disease (ISOAD)

http://www.isoad.org/

Coordinator. Longevity for All

http://www.longevityforall.org/

On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 9:39 PM, Ilia Stambler <ilia.stambler at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear friends,
>
>
>
> I wanted to bring to your attention an important and urgent issue for
> aging care and research.
>
>
>
> It turns out that in the forthcoming work program of the World Health
> Organization (WHO) for the next 5 years – 2018-2023 – the issue of aging
> and aging-related ill health is excluded completely! This means that,
> within the next 5 years, according to this document, the World Health
> Organization is not obliged to do anything to care for the health of older
> persons or to improve their health, not to mention conduct any research and
> development to create new therapies and technologies for improving the
> health of the aged, or any kind of longevity research. The issues of aged
> health are not in the WHO work program! This is the essence of ageism in
> health care and health research!
>
>
>
> http://www.who.int/about/gpw-thirteen-consultation/en/
>
>
>
> Currently, the WHO conducts a public consultation about the draft Work
> Program. Please use the link below to participate in the consultation!
> Please explain to the World Health Organization that the issue of Aging is
> important, and the care and improvement of health of the aged, also through
> increasing biomedical R&D of aging, are important! The consultation fields
> are easy to fill in, and even a couple of sentences, with your affiliation,
> could help break the ageist wall! *The consultation takes place until
> November 15*. Please also spread the word in your circles. Thank you for
> your action!
>
>
>
> http://www.who.int/about/gpw-thirteen-consultation/en/
>
>
>
> In the words of Jane Barratt, Secretary General of the International
> Federation on Ageing (IFA) that brings this issue to the highlight of
> global public discussion: “We urge the WHO to rectify the glaring omission
> of population ageing and older people in the draft 13th General Programme
> of Work. It is a striking oversight that will diminish its credibility
> among all of us. Make your voice heard bit.”
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Ilia Stambler, PhD
>
> On behalf of Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Senior Citizens Movement (
> Israel)
>
> http://www.longevityisrael.org/
>
> Longevity for All
>
> www.longevityforall.org/
>
>
> --
>
> Ilia Stambler, PhD
>
>
> Outreach Coordinator. International Society on Aging and Disease - ISOAD
> http://isoad.org
>
> Chair. Israeli Longevity Alliance / CSO. Vetek (Seniority) Association –
> The Senior Citizens Movement (Israel) *http://www.longevityisrael.org/
> <http://www.longevityisrael.org/>*
>
> Coordinator. Longevity for All http://www.longevityforall.org
>
> Author. Longevity History. *A History of Life-Extensionism in the
> Twentieth Century *; *Longevity Promotion: Multidisciplinary
> Perspectives *http://longevityhistory.com
>
>
>
> Email: ilia.stambler at gmail.com
>
> Tel: 972-3-961-4296 / 0522-283-578
>
> Skype: iliastam
>
> Rishon Lezion. Israel
>

-- 

Ilia Stambler, PhD

Outreach Coordinator. International Society on Aging and Disease - ISOAD
http://isoad.org

Chair. Israeli Longevity Alliance / CSO. Vetek (Seniority) Association –
The Senior Citizens Movement (Israel) *http://www.longevityisrael.org/
<http://www.longevityisrael.org/>*

Coordinator. Longevity for All http://www.longevityforall.org

Author. Longevity History. *A History of Life-Extensionism in the Twentieth
Century *; *Longevity Promotion: Multidisciplinary Perspectives *
http://longevityhistory.com

Email: ilia.stambler at gmail.com

Tel: 972-3-961-4296 / 0522-283-578

Skype: iliastam

Rishon Lezion. Israel
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