Qatar hosted a high-level event in Geneva alongside the 79th World Health Assembly to examine healthy longevity as a strategic investment across the lifespan. The gathering brought together ministers, leaders, and health experts from around the world, with co-sponsorship from Japan, Finland, Thailand, the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), and the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA).
This diverse international participation underscored a shared commitment to bridging the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, positioning healthy longevity as a key objective within global health and development agendas. In his opening remarks, HE Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, Qatar’s Minister of Public Health, framed healthy longevity as both a national priority and a global imperative. He detailed Qatar’s prevention-focused strategy and vision to serve as an international platform integrating scientific research, policy development, financing, and innovation. He also highlighted the role of Qatar’s WHO Collaborating Centre on Healthy Ageing in supporting the World Health Organization’s initiatives in this field.
Al-Mahmoud emphasized that the aim extends beyond extending lifespan to improving the quality of life during those years. He called for coordinated public policies, preventive health measures, strengthened primary healthcare systems, and expanded cross-sector partnerships to realize this goal.
The event highlighted the necessity of a comprehensive approach linking prevention, primary care, governance, financing, and innovation to enhance health outcomes over the life course and to bolster health systems' responsiveness to rapid demographic shifts. Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, discussed the region’s varied health challenges, noting it includes nations with advanced healthcare alongside those affected by conflict and resource constraints. She stressed fortifying primary healthcare to narrow disparities between overall and healthy life expectancy, identifying prevention, early diagnosis and management of non-communicable diseases, and universal health coverage as key pillars.
During a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Salim Salama, CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), participants explored translating the concept of healthy longevity into actionable policies through integrated efforts in governance, financing, digital technologies, and primary care. Prof. Bettina Borisch, WFPHA executive director, emphasized the importance of equity and fairness, advocating for policies that ensure access to investments and services for all populations, particularly vulnerable groups.
IFA Secretary-General Gregor Sneddon addressed institutional ageism as a significant barrier to healthy longevity. He called for recognition of older adults as active societal contributors and participants in policy development, moving beyond a solely care-recipients perspective.
Representatives from Japan, Finland, and Thailand shared national experiences. Dr. Masami Sakoi, vice-minister for health in Japan, pointed to Japan’s successful alignment of healthy longevity with labor participation and economic stability, offering lessons for countries earlier in demographic transition. Dr. Heli Hatunen from Finland outlined her country’s welfare economy model, which integrates health and wellbeing into public policy, advocating prevention as a long-term societal investment rather than a fiscal burden. Dr. Amporn Benjaponpitak of Thailand highlighted the role of community health volunteers in prevention under universal health coverage and stressed that digital health tools must advance equity rather than deepen disparities.
The event concluded with commitments to strengthen inter-regional dialogue on longevity governance, incorporate health determinants into broader public policies, and maintain momentum through forthcoming global initiatives, including ongoing collaboration with WISH. Participants recognized healthy longevity as a multifaceted challenge intersecting health, social, and economic domains, requiring integrated and sustainable policy responses beyond narrow sectoral approaches.