Research: a priority for the decade of healthy aging

Abstract

It is a great opportunity to be part of the publication of this special issue dedicated to agingand health; I thank the editors for this opportunity. The relevance of this publication is notaccidental, population aging is undoubtedly one of the most formidable challenges that publichealth must face in this century. It is a global challenge, but for the Americas, and especially forLatin America and the Caribbean, it is already an inescapable one.The last decade has been important for public health and aging in the Americas. With pride,we can affirm that in these ten years, no Region has advanced as much as ours. In 2009, theMinisters of Health of the Americas were pioneers in approving an action plan on Agingand Health, the first in the world; in addition, the Americas was the first, and so far the onlyregion in the world, to approve a protection mechanism for the rights of the elderly, the Inter-American Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, in 2015.