In August, a longevity summit was held in Dublin. One of the encouraging things to emerge from it was the publication of a Longevity Declaration. Over 50 longevity scientists from around the world called on governments, funding agencies and the general public to increase their support for research to fight age-related disease and to further extend the human lifespan.
As reported here, the declaration “expresses a consensus statement from longevity scientists that aging is not inevitable, and that there are early scientific results suggesting that the biological age of an individual is modifiable.”
This is further proof that longevity — and the potential for dramatic extensions — is now firmly in the mainstream.
Part of the signatories’ motivation is concern that the present models of healthcare and healthcare funding are unsustainable:
“(They) hope that by achieving a much better control of aging, society would undergo a dramatic change, with accessible, expanded life quality, healthcare models shifted towards prevention, repair and rejuvenation, rather than symptom control, and longer, more productive lifespans.” They cited research indicating that even a modest five-year extension in human lifespan, “with equitable access for all people, would save trillions per year in healthcare costs, provide extra life quality across the entire population and ameliorate the demographic challenges that are happening in the first half of this century.” That last point, of course, refers to the rapid aging of societies across the world.
