On the International Day of Older Persons (1st October), the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new portal collecting data on the health and well-being of people aged 60 and over worldwide.
Through maps, charts and tables, the portal offers tailored options for visualization and analysis of global ageing data around 10 topics:
- Demographic estimates and projections
- Major causes of death in older age
- Risk factors
- Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at age 60 years
- Healthy ageing estimates
- National commitments on 10 quantifiable indicators
- Age-friendly cities and communities
- Ageism (national legislation and enforcement strategies against age-based discrimination)
- Integrated care for older people (based on WHO’s Integrated Care approach)
- Long-term care (services + support caregivers)
Users can view the data by age, sex and country to allow develop understanding of trends across different population groups, and to better manage progress towards global goals.
This information will improve the visibility of older people, help inform action to improve health and well-being in countries in line with global, regional and national commitments. I will also support the objectives of WHO’s Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020-2030) that seeks to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities through collective action.