Pandemics and longevity: Will we die, survive, or thrive next time?
Date: Thursday 16 March 2023
Time: 1.30pm – 3.00pm (GMT)
Location: Virtual
We clearly learnt a great deal from the Covid-19 pandemic, but do we know enough to mitigate the impacts on ageing populations when we are faced with the next global health risk?
This webinar is the second in a series of events we are organising with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) to explore the role of longevity in the greatest challenges we face. A range of experts in this field have been invited to identify the links between pandemics and longevity and to discuss how the learnings from past pandemics can help us prepare for the next one.
The speakers are:
- Anjana Ahuja, Science Commentator, Financial Times, co-author with Sir Jeremy Farrar of Spike: The Virus Vs The People, on the inside story of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Matthew Edwards, Chair of the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) Committee from March 2020 to February 2023, Co-chair/Founder of the COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group
- Professor Itamar Grotto, Public Health Physician and Professor of Epidemiology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Former Director of Public Health and Associate Director General, Israel Ministry of Health
- Dr Beth Kamunge-Kpodo, Lecturer in Law, Deputy Director of Law, Justice & Society Research Cluster, University of Reading
- Dr Kit Yates, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and co-director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at Bath University and author of The Maths of Life and Death
In November 2018, one hundred years on from the Spanish Flu pandemic, the ILC launched a global programme, which explored the future of infectious diseases and the measures policymakers should take to prevent a future outbreak of an infectious disease pandemic. Key recommendations from our work included warnings about fake news undermining consensus science on vaccinations and the need for strong public health messages to counterbalance these. You can watch a short clip of the prophetic voices of some of those speaking and attending the launch here.
Session slides