Preparing for The Decade of Healthy Ageing: The Cardiovascular Health Imperative
By Dr. Michael Devoy
Our life spans are stretching longer than ever before. Longevity comes with the promise of gained years, but also brings urgent health challenges. Population aging is accelerating, and the burden of age-related diseases and conditions threatens to reach unsustainable levels. As outlined in Bayer and Global Coalition on Aging’s recent report, “Healthy Heart for Healthy Aging: The Need for Awareness, Innovation, and Collaboration in Cardiovascular Health,”the global health community must now pivot to find sustainable solutions to the health challenges of aging, starting with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and their immense health and economic toll. There is no better moment than today as we prepare for the Decade of Healthy Ageing: 2021–30, which will be declared next year by the WHO at its 2020 Assembly.
CVDs are one of the most important health challenges of the 21st century. These form the largest group of non-communicable diseases in terms of morbidity and mortality, responsible for more than 17 million deaths worldwide each year. And this toll is rising: from 1990 to 2016, CVDs’ share of total mortality increased from 27% to 32% of all deaths. There is also a staggering economic cost. The World Economic Forum projects that CVDs will cause $15.6 trillion in total lost economic output between 2011 and 2030 — greater than the cost of cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases combined.
This massive, multi-dimensional burden for people, communities, and societies worldwide is set to continue growing in step with population aging. By 2050, the number of people 60+ will double to more than 2 billion globally. This is a significant transformation, and it presents us with a historic tipping point.
To find a sustainable path, we must take action to embrace the opportunities for scientific progress and healthcare innovation to optimize the management of CVDs. We must reject the ageist notion that CVDs are a “natural” part of aging, and instead drive towards advances in prevention, treatments, and care that make a difference for prevalence and mortality, regardless of age. Considering the ever increasing number of patients who have to live with CVDs and their caregivers, the focus must be on striving for exceptional quality care that puts these patients first. Advancing current medical care by leveraging the unprecedented opportunities of new technologies like artificial intelligence or gene editing, we now need to reshape the global aging framework.
Three focus areas are essential for effective policy responses to CVDs, which can then act as a leverage point and model — and a compelling call to action — to address other age-related health challenges:
· Awareness: We need policies that promote CVD awareness, education, and healthy lifestyles among a wide range of stakeholders, from patients and caregivers to healthcare providers and the public.
· Innovation: We need policies and a research paradigm that recognizes and supports the stepwise, incremental advances of healthcare innovation from medicines to technology and devices.
· Collaboration: We need policies and platforms that engage and foster collaboration with a wide range of actors, including government agencies, health systems, the private and non-profit sectors, multilateral organizations, and patient advocacy groups and elder caregivers.
Bayer and GCOA’s recent report provides more details about each of these areas and the opportunities for particular policy responses. By guiding widespread awareness, robust innovation, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, we can address the mounting burden of CVDs and establish a new model for responding to the most pressing health challenges of the 21stcentury. Let’s stop assuming that CVD is a natural part of aging. Let’s start working on a future of sustainable healthcare for aging populations where CVDs are under control.
Dr. Michael Devoy is the Chief Medical Officer of Bayer AG, a member of the Global Coalition on Aging.
Preparing for The Decade of Healthy Ageing: The Cardiovascular Health Imperative
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