The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Dementia Observatory (Osservatorio Demenze) have signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance care for healthy ageing. The Dementia Observatory, which is part of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Italy, works to coordinate and support public health responses to dementia on national and international levels. Through an evidence-based approach and life-course perspective, they aim to prevent and promote health in relation to dementia.
The MOU outlines three key areas of collaboration between WHO and the Dementia Observatory. These include developing long-term care standards to improve the care of older individuals, especially those with cognitive disturbances; summarizing scientific literature on emerging issues related to healthy ageing to inform interventions; and creating materials to address sociocultural diversities in caring for older persons. The goal of this collaboration is to significantly improve care for older individuals as we approach the mid-point of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing.
Anshu Banerjee, WHO Director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, expressed his enthusiasm about this collaboration: “Through the engagement of various stakeholders including governments, civil society, international organizations, professionals, academic institutions, media, and the private sector
