NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EXPERT GROUP MEETING, AT HEADQUARTERS 10-12 NOVEMBER, TO FOCUS

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EXPERT GROUP MEETING, AT HEADQUARTERS 10-12 NOVEMBER, TO FOCUS

ON DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH AGENDA ON AGEING FOR THE NEXT CENTURY

Policy responses to the problems of population and individual ageing, particularly in developing countries, will be the focus of a meeting of experts at United Nations Headquarters from 10 to 12 November. The meeting is part of a process sponsored by the Programme on Ageing, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, to develop a systematic approach to formulate and implement a global agenda on policy related research on ageing.

The expert meeting, which is a follow-up to an earlier meeting in Vienna, will formulate a forward-looking worldwide research agenda on ageing. The meeting is expected to: further develop and justify the identified major priority areas and key methodological issues; identify a limited number of top priorities to be undertaken; review partnership proposals and mechanisms for engaging partners and sponsors; and set out further steps in the development of the research agenda.

The meeting involves prominent researchers and policy planners: Gary Andrews (Australia), President of the International Association of Gerontology; Vladimir Anisimov (Russian Federation), Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Aging, N. N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology; Toni Antonucci (United States), Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Geknald Butenko (Ukraine), Institute of Gerontology, Academy of Medical Sciences; Anna Howe (Australia), President of the Australian Association of Gerontology; Kevin Kinsella (United States), Committee on Population, National Research Council; George Myers (United States), Professor Emeritus, Duke University, North Carolina; Charlotte Nusberg (United States), American Association of Retired Persons; Todd Petersen (United States), HelpAge International; P.V. Ramamurti (India), Centre for Research on Ageing, S. V. University, Tirupati, India; Jean-Marie Robine (France) , Equipe INSERM Demographie et Sante; Alan Walker (United Kingdom), Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield; Godwin O. Unanka (Nigeria), Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Florida; and Irene Hoskins, World Health Organization.

The United Nations Programme on Ageing is mobilizing and coordinating existing global research on ageing and, most importantly, helping collaboration among researchers and potential sponsors for research into new areas. The meeting will outline a set of priorities for policy-related research on ageing, which will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly in 2001.

For further information, please contact Rosemary Lane, United Nations Ageing Programme, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel: (212) 963-5090; and for interviews, contact Shala Mokgethi, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information, tel: (212) 963-8104.

* *** *