P R E S S   S U M M A R Y

Extending life and health

Health policies often assume, incorrectly, that after menopause the concerns of women and men converge. Women live longer than men, but average more years of ill-health late in life. Older women’s health reflects their access to heath care, food and nutrition throughout their lives, including their child-bearing years. Births too early or too closely spaced, poor nutrition and anaemia during the reproductive years contribute to poor health later in life.

Menopause is linked to increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and reproductive tract infections. In many countries health service providers do not give priority to menopause and its health effects, though this is changing.

As life expectancy increases, so do years of potentially healthy and productive life — thanks to cleaner water, better sanitation, adequate nutrition, wider access to health services and education, and better medical services and drugs. By 2150, projected life expectancies in developed countries will be 87.5 years for men and 92.5 for women, and in developing countries nearly 82 for men and over 86 for women — 21 years longer than today. Scientific opinion is divided on the biological limits of human life. In any case, it will be a challenge to extend biomedical advances that prolong health to poorer people and countries.

Ageing populations will strain medical systems in many developing countries which are still struggling to protect the health of younger age groups. The burden of disease will shift to older ages over the next several decades. Deaths from cancers will increase in all regions; in Asia they may exceed deaths from infectious diseases by 2015. This change, however, does not justify reorienting health services towards treatment of diseases affecting older people at the expense of improving preventive programmes and services for poorer and less healthy people of all ages.

Gender-disaggregated health statistics on the elderly are rare. Such data could enhance under-standing of differing biological susceptibility to various conditions and better direct preventive efforts. Research in disciplines from medicine to economics is needed to better understand the effects of ageing on individuals, family dynamics and societies. 

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