We know that prevention works, that it saves lives and that it’s cost-effective. Yet investment is lagging.

The Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index, an online tool created by ILC-UK to hold governments to account on healthy ageing and prevention, will be launched on Tuesday 23 May, alongside the 76th World Health Assembly, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Index ranks countries against six indicators relating to healthy ageing and preventative health: life span, health span, work span, income, environmental performance, and happiness.

It brings together health, wealth and societal metrics for the first time. This allows us to compare how sustainable different countries are, both in terms of longer lives and the extent to which their governments are investing in efforts to prevent ill health and support healthy ageing.

Our aim is to use the Index as a tool to hold governments to account on healthy ageing and prevention and ensure that they move from commitment to action on prevention.

At the launch, we shared the key findings from our Index, along with bespoke analysis comparing the Index against other factors that are critical to supporting a preventative health approach to healthy ageing, for instance, by investing more in adult immunisation. We heard from leading individuals in global health, healthy ageing and preventative health to identify ways forward to supporting people to live well for longer.

Speakers:

• Professor Les Mayhew, Associate Head of Global Research, ILC-UK
• Arunima Himawan, Senior Health Research Lead, ILC-UK
• Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health of Singapore
• Honourable Carolyn Bennett, M.D., Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health
• Dr Julia Tainijoki-Seyer, Senior Medical and Advocacy Advisor of the World Medical Association
• Mario Ottiglio, President, Global Coalition on Ageing, Europe

Session slides