Towards a Decade of Healthy Ageing

By Dr Jane Barratt and Megan Acton

The International Federation on Ageing (IFA) is dedicated to a world in which the health, rights and choices of older people are both protected and respected. Central to delivering this is a commitment from policymakers, health professionals, employers and the public alike to create and maintain age-friendly services and societies that enable older people to not just live but live well. To this end, the IFA is hard at work alongside its 70-country-strong membership base to make a real difference to the lives of older people and promote a Decade of Healthy Ageing from 2020 to 2030.

Throughout its 45-year history, the IFA has been at the forefront of efforts to safeguard and prioritise the ageing population: it has played a crucial role in drafting key initiatives such as the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, which encourage governments to incorporate the independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment and dignity of older people into national programmes; it has actively advocated for older people to be recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages); and it continues to maintain a strong voice in the debate on how best to protect the rights of older people globally.

These efforts have seen it granted general consultative status at the United Nations and its agencies and also enter into formal relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Now, the IFA has set its sights on delivering the Decade of Healthy Ageing from 2020 to 2030 outlined in the WHO’s Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health.

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Article originally published on: https://www.healtheuropa.eu/towards-a-decade-of-healthy-ageing/86360/
Reproduced by kind permission of Pan European Networks Ltd, www.healtheuropa.eu

© Pan European Networks 2018