The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry to investigate how technology can be used to increase health span and to improve the impacts of ageing.
The Big Issue
Life span has increased in recent decades but health span, the period of time people live in good health, has not kept pace and so people are living longer with ill health. This duration of ill health can be challenging not only for the individual, but is also putting increased pressure on health and social care services.
The UK Government has announced an “Ageing society” Grand Challenge which aims to ensure that people can enjoy at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035. This inquiry will examine whether the Government’s ambition is achievable, and which science and technology approaches would be most successful in securing this target.
How can you help?
The Committee want to hear from a wide range of people and organisations with experience and expertise relating to ageing.
Send a written submission on the inquiry webpage.
Your responses don’t have to be long and they don’t have to cover all the questions- even if you only have expertise or experiences of one question, we want to hear from you.
The questions cover the following topics:
- The scientific understanding of the ageing process, and how these areas of research could lead to treatments for delaying or managing the negative effects of ageing
- Technologies that can improve health and wellbeing in old age, and technologies that can enable independent living in old age
- Opportunities for the UK to commercialise discoveries and innovations relating to healthier ageing
- The policy implications of a healthier older population
The full list of questions can be found on the Committee webpage.
Submissions will be reviewed to decide whether they will be accepted as evidence.
The deadline for written submissions is Friday 20 September.