The first Baltics Conference on Healthy Longevity, organized by the Longevity Alliance Baltic (LAB), will take place on 25 November 2023 (11.00-17.00) in the University of Latvia – House of Nature, in Riga, Latvia.
Some of the leading longevity researchers and advocates in the Baltic area and internationally will take part.
http://longevitybaltics.org/conference/
The conference will address a critical challenge of the modern world, and of the Baltic region in particular - the need to increase healthy and productive longevity of the aging population. The challenge is vital for the Baltic countries. During the COVID period, in the years 2020-2021, mainly due to the declining health of the older people, Latvia lost about 2 years of life expectancy (from about 75.5 years in 2019 dropping to 73.5 in 2021), in Lithuania it declined by about 2.5 years (from 76.2 to 73.7) and in Estonia by 1.5 years (from 78.6 to 77.1). This decline in life expectancy was mainly due to the high vulnerability of the older people to the pandemic and the accompanying stresses. Both the relatively low absolute values of life expectancy and its strong declines are among the worst in the developed world, for example compared to the rest of EU countries or Israel, showing a high degree of vulnerability to aging-related ill health. At the same time the decline in the general population and increase in the older population are also among the greatest in the developed world, with Latvia now showing the steepest decline in population in the EU. Thus, in Latvia, during this century, the population is projected to decline by over 30%, while the percent of older persons (65+) is expected to increase to over 30%. All these show the urgency of the aging problem for the Baltic countries.
There is an urgent social need to address this vulnerability, to reverse the negative morbidity and mortality trend by developing and deploying novel medical technologies designed to prevent aging-related diseases and improve the health of the older people, increase the healthy life expectancy. This may also boost the economic development and cooperation in and with the region, thanks to the burgeoning “healthy longevity industry”. The conference will showcase and share some of the latest promising developments in longevity medicine, data analysis and policies for healthy longevity and prevention of aging-related diseases, especially from the US, China and Israel.
The recently established Longevity Alliance Baltic (LAB) that unities representatives of Baltic countries and international experts, and its first conference, aim to increase the awareness about the aging-related issues, to educate the public about healthy longevity research and development and help build up the longevity community in the Baltic region, catalyzing a further development of the longevity field internationally.
“It is very encouraging that this first Baltics Conference on Healthy Longevity takes place, contributing to the promotion of healthy longevity in the region. It is especially encouraging that international cooperation is at the foundation of this activity. As an active participant in the Longevity Alliance Baltics and the conference, I am proud that also our country Israel, is taking a strong part in this cooperation” says Dr. Ilia Stambler, chairman of the Vetek (Seniority) Association in Israel, an advisory board member of LAB, and a member the conference organizing committee.