Cochrane in partnership: The United Nations (UN) Decade of Healthy Ageing

Cochrane in partnership: The World Health Organisation (WHO) Decade of Healthy Ageing

In 2020, people aged 60 years or over outnumber children under 5 years, for the first time in history; and by 2050, it is estimated that there will be more than twice as many people over 60 as children under 5, and outnumber adolescents and young people aged 15–24 years. To mark this change in our global population the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing has been established.

To accompany the activities of this decade, in early May 2021, the Decade of Healthy Ageing  Platform was launched. The Platform is a digital space designed to help Decade stakeholders find, share, and produce the knowledge needed to generate impact and create a world for all ages. Explore the Platform.

The WHO defines Healthy Ageing as ‘the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age’ and includes creating environments and opportunities for people to be and do what they value for the extent of their lives. 


The Cochrane Campbell Global Ageing Partnership has worked with the WHO since 2015 and is an important collaborator in the work of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. The Partnership aims to promote the dissemination, accessibility, and impact of Cochrane and Campbell Reviews, while increasing their applicability to address the health care priorities and wellbeing of older people globally. The Partnership also recognizes a need for producing and disseminating evidence to drive research to address the healthcare, social needs and inequalities of an increasingly older population. Reviews need to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of ageing in order to be relevant and accessible to a wide audience of policymakers, educators, commissioners, funders, and consumers. This decade will highlight and support this work for Cochrane, the WHO, and the UN.

Tracey Howe, who is leading this project within Cochrane said,

“This is an opportunity for us to inform and help the WHO and the UN when it comes to advice about healthy ageing. We are delighted to partner on this important initiative and focus on having a global impact.  Our work will focus on the major causes of disability affected life years, called DALYS, for people over 50 and the impact on their functional ability including cardiovascular disease, stroke, COPD, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, dementias, diabetes and falls looking at how Cochrane can play it’s part in improving the evidence, and access to this evidence, on these globally important health topics.”

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Friday, May 28, 2021