Dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone joining us today, wherever you are in the world, and welcome to this dialogue on strengthening collaboration for healthy ageing.
This is one of a series of dialogues WHO has started to meaningfully engage with communities and civil society organizations in their national responses to COVID-19.
As you know, the pandemic has disproportionately affected older people, who face a higher risk of serious illness, hospitalization and of death.
More than 3.8 million people have lost their lives to COVID-19. The majority of them are older people.
Every life counts, and we mourn the loss of so many.
In countries with the greatest access to vaccines, we are now seeing a decline in mortality among older age groups. This is good news.
However, we are now seeing a very worrying increase in cases and deaths in Africa, which is the region with the least access to vaccines.
Apart from the death and disease caused by the virus itself, the pandemic and some of the measures used to contain it have also caused severe disruptions to essential health services for older people.
Primary care, rehabilitative, palliative and long-term care have been most heavily affected, with over 40% of countries reporting disruptions that affect the availability of and access to quality services.
The pandemic has also had negative impacts on mental health and well-being due to social isolation, separation from family and caregivers, and the loss of loved ones to COVID-19.
And the pandemic has caused major changes to daily routines for older people, and interruptions to important services, social activities and support networks.
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Last time we met, we discussed many important opportunities to improve our collaboration on healthy ageing.
I was convinced that we had to go beyond dialogue and act. I asked my team to work with you to develop a joint action plan. Ten technical units engaged in this planning.
I look forward to hearing from you about progress on the joint plan but also about other opportunities and ideas that can advance our joint goals:
To improve the health and well-being of older people;
To end the COVID -19 pandemic and reduce its impacts on older people, their families and communities;
And to support the achievement of WHO’s “triple billion” targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Thank you for coming together to organize and support this dialogue. This coordination among civil society organizations on healthy ageing is very important and we would like to see it strengthened.
We are here to listen to you.
Thank you once again, and I look forward to a productive discussion.