WHO RC75 - EU Statement - Item 10 – Ageing is living: a strategy for promoting a lifetime of health and well-being in the WHO European Region 2026–2030

Honourable chair,

Distinguished Regional Director,

Excellencies,

Dear colleagues,

I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the European Union and its 27 Member States.

The European region enjoys one of the highest healthy life expectancies in the world. One third of our total population is expected to be over 60 by 2050. 

We thank the WHO Regional Office for developing this strategy and wish to express our full support: the demographic shift is not only a challenge for our societies and a current reality, it also offers opportunities. With the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing entering its final years, it is crucial to take strong and decisive action. We hope the new strategy will act as a guide to promote healthy ageing, create healthy environments, address health inequities, bolster the resilience of health and care systems to meet the needs of our ageing societies and fulfil the rights of our older populations. We welcome the outlined twin-track approach, aiming to deliver these goals through measures addressed at later life, the foundations for lifelong health and wellbeing in combination with preventive interventions starting at an early age. We support the core actions prioritizing prevention, transforming health and care systems, creating enabling environments, reimagining age and ageing and combatting ageism. 

We emphasize that dignity must remain a central principle in all actions related to ageing, ensuring respect for, and, inclusion of older people, including their contributions to society.

The ongoing WHO reprioritization has highlighted the need for alignment across WHO and other organizations. We note with appreciation that this strategy aligns with EPW2, the Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health, the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and the UNFPA's focus on demographic resilience.

The life course approach proposed in the strategy complements the European Care Strategy and the Recommendations of the Council of the European Union on ‘access to affordable high-quality long-term care’. The Strategy’s core actions and cross-cutting enablers provide guidance for Member States to identify key factors influencing healthy ageing and dignified long-term care of high quality as well as, building inclusive, innovative resilient health and social care systems for both those receiving and delivering care. 

We welcome the focus on developing and maintaining an individual’s functional ability and on creating enabling environments by fostering social connection and independence. We note the need for a holistic approach in addressing the broader determinants of health and wellbeing to support people as they age. This includes for example, the provision of age friendly health and social quality care services, age-inclusive measures in the labour market, actions to build age friendly environments, including housing and assistive technologies that enable people to age in place, remain connected to their communities and live as independently as possible.

In conclusion, previous successful collaboration between the EU and the Regional Office in supporting the implementation of the Council Recommendations should again be an effective model for the implementation of this Strategy. Particular attention should be given to harmonizing indicators with existing EU tools to ensure consistency and enable effective monitoring of collective progress.

Thank you.