First of all, Dr. Palitha, thank you so much for your thoughtful moderation and your excellencies, honorable ministers, for your insightful interventions. I myself was trained as a physician in the European region, a region that has become rapidly overwhelmed by its demographic shift.
In Europe today health systems, our health workforce and insurance schemes are very much stretched and suffering from almost collapse with the cost associated with chronic care, associated with long-term care.
I also am raised in a region where elderly are often seen as a burden to society and not so much as a resource of wisdom and resilience. And last not least, in the European region, what I see is that there has been way too little investment in primary health care, which is absolutely required and is the most cost-effective approach to dealing with aging, and in community-based models of care.
So I'm extremely inspired by the progress you shared with us, the models you are adopting—in terms of policy reforms, in terms of national strategies, and changing to laws to support older people, the developments you have shared when it comes to community-based models of long-term care; innovations in primary health care, and both on the prevention and care side; when it comes to workforce models. And of course, last but not least, when it comes to increased investments that you are planning to make in this important area.
Let me say that as WHO and as WHO SEARO, we are proud and honored to be part of this historic adoption of the Colombo Declaration. I thank you, Sri Lanka, Honorable minister, for the foresight you are showing and for acting on this topic early.
I believe that the Colombo Declaration will complement the Regional Strategy 2024 - 2030 on Healthy Aging, and the UN Decade of Aging, and really makes it much more concrete.
And as WHO, we're deeply committed, I've listened carefully to your asks and to where we can help, so we're deeply committed to using this declaration as a platform for the technical guidance and assistance you've asked for. For collecting the data and evidence that is needed to drive progress in this area. As a platform for exchange and learning, as I said, I like the idea of an observatory and of a cell or nucleus. And, last but not least, of course, also as a platform to convene partners.
Because from my experience, what I’ve seen is that this human challenge cannot be tackled without partnerships. And so, this Ministerial Declaration I think can bring partners together, from development banks, from civil society, from the private sector, from academic institutions and philanthropies— who all have a role to play in mobilizing resources, driving innovation and scaling solutions.
So, you know, with that I feel that the commitments you have made today, or are making today, will resonate far beyond this room and actually beyond our region. They will contribute to the global movement of the UN Decade of Healthy Aging.
Our next actions, as Dr. Viroj said so inspiringly, will determine whether our region is ready for the future. And, you know, I like the idea to use this declaration as a catalyst to bring us together every two years, at the Regional Committee, to monitor and track the progress in this important field to add life to years and not only years to life. So thank you so much.
And perhaps last of these I want to say because I was inspired by the Sunday side event we had, which was attended by a lot of elderly people. And so let us make sure that also when we convene over this topic in two years at the RC, let us have the voices of elderly at the table, let us have them shape our policies and our work and make them really part of the progress. That's really what we need.
Thank you.
Watch the video: