Dear Sir,

The British Council for Ageing (BCA) endorses the report ‘Rejuvenating Ageing Research’ by the Academy of Medical Sciences (Today’s pensioners ‘as fit as 40-year-olds of a century ago’, 28/9).  We are a strong advocate of the need for adequately funded and well coordinated research into ageing and the needs of older people in order to narrow the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.  Better understanding of the biological, medical and psychosocial aspects of ageing is needed to improve quality of life for all older people, including those who are frail.  It would enable us to add both years to life and life to years.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the setting of funding priorities for science and technology research in the context of likely overall cuts in public spending.  Trying to understand human ageing and meeting the challenges it presents requires investment.  However, the relative cost pales into insignificance compared to the costs of age-related disease and the missed opportunities of failing as a society to benefit from older people’s talents and potential.

Yours

Members of the British Council for Ageing
Professor Janet M Lord, Professor of Immune Cell Biology, University of Birmingham, British Society for Research on Ageing
Richard Faragher, Professor of Biological Gerontology, University of Brighton, Chair of the British Society for Research on Ageing
Professor Judith Phillips, Professor of Gerontology, Swansea University, President of the British Society of Gerontology
Dr Sinead O’Mahony, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine, Cardiff University, Chair of the British Geriatrics Society, Academic & Research Committee

 
For more information and/or interviews please contact Iona-Jane Harris on 020 7608 8573 or email press@bgs.org.uk
 

The British Council for Ageing is an alliance of the British Geriatrics Society, the British Society of Gerontology and the British Society for Research in Ageing. It aims to promote understanding between the different disciplines involved in the study of ageing and older people.

The British Geriatrics Society (BGS) is a membership association of doctors, nurses, therapists, scientists and others with a particular interest in the care of the frail older person and in promoting better health in old age.