APRe! looked at ageism and health at WHO Regional Summit

The Regional Summit on Policy Innovation for Healthy Ageing in the WHO European Region held in Lisbon, on 10 and 11 October provided an excellent opportunity to meet actors committed to promoting the right to healthy ageing and to learn about ongoing projects. Our Portuguese member APRe! took part in the event.

The two-day event explored the challenges and opportunities arising from the ageing of the population: need for improved health care, a skilled health and care workforce, age-friendly environments and a collective effort to combat ageism across all sectors.

APRe! – Portuguese Association of Retirees and Pensioners, member of AGE Platform Europe, was represented by its president Maria do Rosário Gama and by Anabela Paixão, APRe!’s board member for Health and International Representations.

In the opening session, Maria do Rosário Gama shared the perspective of an older person redefining ageing. The president of APRe! briefly described her background as an activist for human rights and combating injustice: from the days when she was a young university student, under the dictatorship, towards her leadership of APRe! when she retired from a long career in education as a biology teacher. Her speech showed that old age is very much a reflection of one’s past and life course.

Anabela Paixão took part in the panel on How we think, feel, and act on ageing which addressed the widespread prevalence of ageism in society and its profound impact on the physical, social, and mental health of individuals, and proposed strategies to transform the narrative surrounding age and ageing. Topics such as human rights, intergenerational solidarity, and the invaluable contributions of older persons in society took center stage.