To Meet the Challenges of An Aging Population, We Must Focus on NCDs

Upjohn’s new partnership with a European Commission initiative supports programs that improve healthy aging and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases

Why must we increase the focus on aging?

Two of the greatest contributors to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) throughout the last several decades are longer lifespans and changing lifestyles [1]. Because many NCDs are preventable through modifiable risk factors [2], medical practitioners and public health stakeholders are often laser-focused on the determinants and barriers to healthy living, with the goal of preventing and mitigating disease burden. However, as an NCD community we must also look at healthy living through the lens of living’s outcome: aging.

While laser focused on preventing disease... we must also look at healthy living through the lens of living’s outcome: aging. 

Aging populations pose unique and formidable challenges to societies across the world. Europe, in particular, is grappling with a changing demographic and the resulting impact on health: almost one-fifth of the European population is over 65 and this will rise to nearly a quarter of the population by 2030 [3,4]. NCDs are critical threats to healthy aging; they rob people of productivity and years lived and cause substantial disability. These diseases are now the greatest cause of mortality globally, taking the lives of about 70% of people each year [1, 2]. In its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the World Health Organization (WHO) established a goal to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030 through prevention and treatment [5]. Given its confounding burden on disease, aging has becoming a priority for policymakers and healthcare providers.

Given its confounding burden on disease, aging has becoming a priority for policymakers and healthcare providers.

How can we support healthy aging?

The European Commission (EC) is addressing the challenges of an aging population head-on through the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA). The EIP on AHA aims to foster innovation and digital transformation in managing healthy aging and strengthen EU research and innovation by bringing together a range of relevant actors in the field.

Upjohn is proud to partner with the EIP on AHA on Project chAnGE. By funding projects across Europe that facilitate healthy aging and reduce the burden of NCDs, Project chAnGE will advance research that can drive improved outcomes for patients.

Congratulations to all of the Project chAnGE recipients whose research is focused on identifying clinical practice and systems-related challenges and gaps in European prevention and management of NCDs:

• Integrated care in frail older adults with non-malignant chronic pain, Prof. Graziano Onder, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Italy & University of Porto, Portugal
• A multidisciplinary approach to improve adherence to medical recommendations in older adults at hospital, Dr. Caterina Trevisan, Università di Padova, Italy
• Healthy ageing through improving cardiovascular risk, Christine Hancock, C3 Collaborating for Health, England and Ireland
• Adherence & quality of life measurement in NCDs, Prof. Ionnis Yfantopoulos, IPOKE (Institute of Political Economic and Social Research - Health Economics Unit) and University of Athens, Greece
• Reduction of hospital visits after discharge through a transitional pharmaceutical care plan for older geriatric inpatients, Prof. Jos Tournoy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

The concept of EIP was developed by the EC recognizing that partnership can help strengthen research and innovation into healthy aging. As we track the clinical impact of Project chAnGE research across Europe, I believe that we can all feel buoyed by the genuine spirit of collaboration which is so critical to addressing global health crises. 

#NCDs #UpjohnOnAMission @Alessandro Monaco

1.      Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Seattle, WA: IHME, 2018.

2.       World Health Organization. NCD Fact Sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases. Accessed November 2019.

3.      Eurostat. Population structure and ageing. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing. Accessed November 2019.

4.      Eurostat. Population structure by major age groups, EU-28, 2018-2100. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Population_structure_by_major_age_groups,_EU-28,_2018-2100_(%25_of_total_population).png. Accessed December 2019.

5.      World Health Organization. Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 2015.