“We know that United Nations Conventions work."
ILC Presidents Margaret Gillis (Canada) and Rosy Pereyra (Dominican Republic) on Ageism and the need for a United Nations Convention on true Rights of Older Persons. “A convention does many things. It allows advocates to track progress and hold governments accountable for transgressions and inaction. It clarifies the responsibilities of governments, establishes laws and policies, and calls for data collection and regular reporting. And a convention will encourage older persons themselves to speak openly.”
Dementia Friends
On June 5th, the Government of Canada and the Alzheimer Society of Canada announced the launch of Dementia Friends Canada, a program seeking to help understand the effects and dispel the myths associated with people suffering from dementia in order to reduce the stigma associated with having dementia. Based off similar successful programs from the United Kingdom and Japan, Dementia Friends has set a goal of 1 million registrants by Spring 2017.
Demand a Plan
The Canadian Medical Association has launched DemandAPlan, a campaign that calls for a National Seniors Strategy in Canada. Expressing concerns over the state of health care for Canada's seniors, the campaign calls for making seniors care a ballot issue in the election campaign and for the parties to include a national seniors strategy in their campaign platforms, with hopes of having a national seniors strategy by the year 2019.
Capetown Declaration on a Global Response to Dementia
The ILC Global Alliance calls for a global response to dementia. The projected global increase in the incidence of dementia, from 35.6 million cases in 2010 to 115.4 million by 2050, requires an urgent and comprehensive global response, according to a consortium of international organisations.
New Longevity Centre to be Hosted at uOttawa
The University of Ottawa has announced it will house the first and only International Longevity Centre of Canada through the Faculty of Health Sciences and join the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Global Alliance.
