Date: Tuesday 24 September 2024
Time: 1.00 – 3.00pm EDT
Location: The Yale Club of New York, USA

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Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a key goal for national and international stakeholders and is essential for ensuring people live longer, healthier lives. However, older adults are often overlooked in policy discussions on health equity, particularly in in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

While LMICs have made significant progress in improving UHC service coverage over the past two decades, their populations are ageing quickly. By 2050, it is estimated the global number of older adults will more than double, rising to 2.1 billion, and 80% of them will reside in LMICs.

The world is already off track to achieve UHC by 2030. Except for low-income countries, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries have witnessed an increase in out-of-pocket health costs. Moreover, older households are most at risk of catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending.

Without careful consideration and concerted policy response to the health needs of older adults, achieving UHC for all will be impossible. The broader impacts of COVID-19, the climate crisis and other threats to global health security mean that now more than ever, we need to make achieving UHC a reality.

At this high-level meeting, we will bring together experts in global health, UHC, LMICs and longevity to identify solutions for ensuring UHC for older adults in LMICs. We’ll present our research, which uses data from our Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index and the WHO’s UHC Index. In partnership with HelpAge International, we are speaking to older adults from LMICs to give them a voice at the global level. We will showcase their experiences with the healthcare system and the barriers they face accessing it to help identify what needs to happen to move the needle on UHC.

If you would like to attend, please register your interest using the button below.

This project is supported by Amgen.