The Scale of the Problem

“Increasing life expectancy by 1 year is worth US$38Tn to the US Economy and by ten years US$367Tn”.

Andrew Scott, The London Business School.

“Longevity is one of the defining challenges of this century”.

“This year the US passed the transition point. There were more over 65’s than under 15’s”.

Linda Fried (Columbia University). Co-author of the National Academy of Medicine’s “Global Roadmap for Healthy Ageing”.

“By 2030 50% of our population will be over 50”

(Spain is becoming the oldest country in the world)

Naira Artaza Aristondo, Cabinet Office of the Government of Biscay.

Reframing the Problem

“Health matters more to economic productivity than at any time in the last 200 years.”

“We can’t have a healthy economy without a healthy population”.

Andy Haldane. CEO Royal Society of Arts, ex Chief Economist at the Bank of England

“Health improvement is part of productivity improvement”.

Michael Gove. UK Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations

The end of the 20th Century Medical Model of Health

“Health-care systems based only on response to illness are no longer affordable, and economies need a more productive workforce. The current model, which focuses on reactive sick-care alone, must be shifted to a new one based on proactive prevention, with the ever-growing recognition that the wealth of nations is not possible without the health of populations”.

UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing

“Between 2010 and 2018 healthcare costs (in Singapore) doubled. It will triple again between 2018 and 2030. It is unsustainable.”

John Wong (National University of Singapore). Co-author of the National Academy of Medicine’s “Global Roadmap for Healthy Ageing”.

“ The current health system is totally unsustainable. We are a super tanker heading towards an iceberg. Everybody knows what is going to happen but no one is trying to stop it”.

David Sinclair. Co-Director of the Paul F Glenn Centre for the Biology of Ageing Research at the Harvard Medical School.

Prevention Rather than Treatment

“Government sets targets for the number of new hospitals, the number of nurses and the length of the waiting list. This is a policy cul-de-sac. The targets should be about the health of the nation. This would be a policy inflection point and a switch to prevention”.

Lord Bethell. Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care

“I have wasted by entire career as a doctor. 80% of health outcomes are outside of medicine”.

John Wong, (National University of Singapore). Co-author of the National Academy of Medicines “Global Roadmap for Healthy Ageing”.

“To do this we need to be able to see names not numbers”

“We need to move away from the 20th Century medical model. From dependency to contribution; from separation to inclusion; from rest to activity. Stop wrapping old people in cotton wool”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester. (The World Health Organization first Age Friendly City).

“Age is malleable. Healthy behaviours can prevent chronic conditions and slow down functional decline!"

Sarah Harper, Clore Professor of Gerontology, University of Oxford.

“The switch from treatment to prevention requires a period of double running. The stock of sick patients still need to be treated. It will take time for prevention to reduce the flow of new patients”.

UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing

Health as a Societal Issue

“Geographical Inequality scars our Society. The lowest life expectancy exists in areas that also suffer from low educational achievement, the poorest housing ; high unemployment; poor public transportation etc etc”.

“We have to overcome the people who believe that it is their sovereign right to eat as many Frosties as they want. They believe there is no place for Government to intervene”.

Michael Gove , Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations

“80% of health outcomes are influenced by the Social Determinants of Disease”.

John Wong. (National University of Singapore). Co-author of the National Academy of Medicines “Global Roadmap for Healthy Ageing”.

Healthy Ageing is a lifetime job

"Extending longevity starts in childhood if not the womb":

“The ACE scale (Adverse Childhood Experiences) can predict all manner of health and social outcomes in later life. The higher your score. The higher your chances of high addiction; diabetes; heart disease; lupus; obesity…”

Joanne Cash Co-Founder ParentGym

"A Happy child learns better. There are currently over 200 Ways of Measuring Wellbeing in UK Schools. We need a consistent set of measures ”.

David Gregson, The Gregson Family Foundation

Personal and Public Finance

“The pension industry totally underestimates the resilience of young people to work later in life. With better work life balance we should be enjoying work. They are setting impossible savings targets.”

Iona Bain Founder the Grown Up Money Blog.

“We should talk about lifespan; Healthspan and WEALTHSPAN”.

Dani Saurymper, Portfolio Manager Aging , Pacific Asset Management.

Care

“80% of care is provided by families. There are 10.6m carers like this in the UK. They represent a Second NHS”.

Madeline Starr, Director of Business Development, Carer UK

“There are 8000 new unpaid carers a week taking on the task. They have no training”.

Dr Caroline Green, Social Care Researcher, Kings College London.

The Business of Age

The Business of Age

Forget "advice to my younger self" articles. What would an older me want to know?

Financial Times