Global aging is a triumph of development. Adults over 60 are the fastest-growing demographic across the world. This shift will impact labor, immigration, health care, social protection systems and economies. Rapidly aging societies need adaptable strategies with a special focus on marginalized groups, especially women, who often live longer with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and chronic diseases and bear most caregiving responsibilities.
There’s an opportunity to leverage an aging population for health, societal, and economic gains. Investing in health and wellbeing throughout people’s lives starting with maternal and child health to ongoing control of non-communicable diseases, is key to creating longer, healthier, productive lifespans.
The report “Unlocking the Power of Healthy Longevity: Demographic Change, Non-communicable Diseases and Human Capital” presents the findings and recommendations for life course investments to improve health, reduce poverty, address gender inequity, enhance productivity, and increase overall well-being. The report underscores the need for country-driven initiatives to invest in healthy longevity responding to demographic shifts, pandemic threats, and climate change.
Key messages:
The world’s population has been aging at a dramatic speed and many countries are ill-prepared to address the magnitude and pace of demographic shifts.
- By 2050 at least one third of the world population will be over 60 years of age and countries need to adjust to the opportunities and challenges this rapid demographic transition presents.
- The impact of aging populations will ripple through labor markets, immigration, and social policies. To navigate this evolving landscape, investing in the health and wellbeing of the working-age population is imperative.
- Promoting healthy, productive, and inclusive longevity requires action throughout a person’s life. Most important is the timely and effective prevention and control of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, respiratory diseases, heart diseases, cancers and depression.
Tackling non-communicable diseases for healthier longevity is important for all people, and a matter of equity because the poorest people are most susceptible to these diseases.
- In low- and middle-income countries, non-communicable diseases already account for over 70% of all deaths, and a significant portion of disease and disability.
- The poorest and most vulnerable people are most susceptible to non-communicable diseases because of higher rates of smoking, alcohol use and obesity and lower quality of health care. They are also least able to afford treatment costs and cope with income loss.
- The impact of non-communicable diseases on families creates intergenerational traps of poverty, affecting entire families and children’s prospects.
If done right, healthy longevity could save 150 million lives in low- and middle-income countries and extend millions more lives by 2050, resulting in significant economic benefits. But this requires bold actions by governments to prevent and control non-communicable diseases.
- Governments need to take a life-course approach which has implications well beyond health to include child nutrition, girls’ education, and taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks.
- Healthy longevity means reducing avoidable deaths and serious disability throughout the life of a person, including better physical, mental, and social functioning through middle and older ages.
- Achieving healthy longevity requires cross-sectoral action and collaboration in countries, within development organizations and across labor markets. It requires action in areas such as financial protection, long term care, and fiscal policies.
Healthy longevity initiatives also improve gender equity.
- While women generally outlive men they bear high burdens of non-communicable diseases, experience longer periods of disability, and have fewer resources to address these challenges than men.
- In addition, their responsibility for caregiving reduces employment prospects and compromises their own health and wellbeing.
- Emphasizing alternatives to long-term care at home, particularly community-based care, will contain costs, respect dignity and cultural norms, and aid women to remain in the workforce.
The World Bank stands ready to support countries with knowledge, data and financing for longevity programs to improve health and wellbeing of their adult population and protect families from economic devastation.
- The Bank’s work on healthy longevity is essential to achieving the Bank’s goal of reaching 1.5 billion people with better health services by 2030.
- This involves scaling up high-impact interventions, addressing financial protection for poor people and long-term care needs, and supporting data. Some examples:
- Integrating cost-effective clinical services into primary health systems is crucial and cost-effective—as well as preventing unnecessary suffering and death.
- In the short run, excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages can mobilize additional revenue. In the long run, enhanced productivity and extended working lives can boost incomes and tax revenues.
- Expanding social protection programs for the informal sector to enable dignified aging and help cover essential heath costs.
- Healthy longevity is an evidence-based approach to define prioritized, costed interventions and related policy changes that countries can draw on to develop country-owned programs.