Opinion: It’s time to put the global megatrend of aging on the agenda

At the World Health Organization’s 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, the discussions and debates will cover immunization, pandemic response, maternal and child mortality, health impacts of climate change, and a host of other vital concerns. Alongside these priorities, there is another issue — one that will have an increasingly sizeable influence not just on health, but also on economic, political, and social outcomes in lower- and middle-income countries — that warrants greater attention from global institutions.

That issue is the global megatrend of aging.

By 2030, 1 in 6 people on the planet will be over 60 years old, and by mid-century the global population of older people is expected to double, surpassing 2 billion. The impacts of this shift will be especially profound in LMICs, which will be home to 80% of the world’s older adults by 2050. While high-income countries such as the United States can dedicate resources to proactive planning, many LMICs are on pace to become older societies before they achieve the wealth needed to support aging populations. That is, they grow old before they grow rich.

And yet, at major international convenings of health and development officials, the issue of global aging is missing from the official agenda, and it is not reflected in high-level strategic planning or execution. As former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in a frank discussion of development priorities at AARP’s most recent Global Thought Leadership Conference, “I don’t believe global aging has been a particularly clear and consistent focus. That's going to have to change."

An urgent call for action for the global community to do more on healthy aging

That conference was part of AARP’s ongoing efforts to engage global development and health institutions and call for action on healthy aging. The gathering brought together members of AARP’s senior leadership, led by CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, with participants including United Nations Under-Secretary-General Natalia Kanem, Ambassador Rice, former USAID Administrator Gayle Smith, and Singapore’s Ambassador to the U.S. Lui Tuck Yew. The World Bank’s Vice President for Human Development Mamta Murthi, WHO, government leaders from Europe and Africa, and leaders from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, and Google were also present.

Not only did the convening put aging front and center as a global development priority, but it also included calls for specific action steps. AARP pressed the U.S. State Department and the U.N. to create a special envoy for global aging issues, and urged all international development agencies and multilateral development banks and finance institutions to establish internal working groups on population aging.

AARP also challenged the private sector to act on the business imperatives driven by a global wave of aging adults. This includes age-inclusive innovative product development, job creation and training for older workers, work-life balance to allow for caregiving and employee health, and the incorporation of age into diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

In her conversation with AARP CEO Jenkins, Ambassador Rice also encouraged the U.N. to consider establishing an organization similar to UNICEF to advocate for older populations in the way that agency works to protect children’s rights.

An issue that must be high on the official agenda at international fora

The conversation on global aging has continued since the conference, including deeper engagement by AARP with USAID, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, which has led to agreement that early action is needed and exploring ways for robust collaboration. However, the need for more progress remains urgent.

For example, Singapore's ministerial effort to “add life to years” began two decades ago, when it realized that 25% of its population would be 65 or older by 2030. “We recognized that we had to start as early as possible with those as young as possible,” said Ambassador Yew at the AARP conference. “It is a whole society, not just focusing on the elderly, but families, even young children.” In California, which is a U.S. leader on aging, progress comes through establishing and integrating aging into multiple levels of government and society, as well as robust data and accountability, said California’s Director of the Department of Aging Susan DeMarois. Gayle Smith, former USAID Administrator, stressed that effective efforts require “investing in people from the day they are born to the day they die.”

The important issues that will be discussed at this week’s World Health Assembly — and every convening of global health and development partners — will be influenced by the profound shift toward older populations in the coming decades, especially in LMICs. With the right plans and actions, aging can present opportunities for stronger and healthier economies that have more equity, higher skills, and greater adaptability.

To get there, we cannot continue to ignore the global aging megatrend, an issue that must be on the agenda.

Visit https://www.aarpinternational.org/ to learn more about AARP’s international work and to view the recordings from AARP’s Global Thought Leadership Conference.