Press invitation: Uppsala Health Summit seeking smart solutions in ageing society

Get set for 3-4 June: Uppsala University, together with seven other Swedish actors, has invited politicians, opinion-makers and experts from healthcare, academia and companies to an unconditional and open dialogue on the ways forward in an ageing society. The goal of the Uppsala Health Summit is to move from knowledge to action.

The Summit brings together a number of major figures in a roundtable discussion in the field of healthcare.

The purpose of Uppsala Health Summit is to create enhanced opportunities to exploit research findings, ideas and products for better health by listening to each other and trying out viewpoints across disciplinary, sectorial and geographic boundaries. The first summit will be held on 3-4 June with the theme of “Health and Medical Care for Healthy Ageing”.

We are growing older and older, and fewer young people are having to support more and more seniors. In 2012, Sweden, together with Japan, Italy and Germany had the highest support ratio in the world, with only three working-age inhabitants per individual over 65 years old. We are enjoying more years of health, but also more years of poor health.

To meet the challenges this situation entails, there is a great need to set up a serious discussion about how research findings and innovations can be directly or indirectly put to use in society. What are the obstacles? How can we get around them? Researchers, companies, public authorities and caring staff contribute daily to the generation of medical knowledge, but to realise ideas and translate research into concrete action, all parties need to understand each other’s realities and find paths that lead forward.

-   We have had extremely favourable responses from those we invited, and many have accepted the invitation, so we hope and believe this can be a truly valuable meeting, says Anders Malmberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University and chair of the Steering Group for Uppsala Health Summit.

Speakers and participants include, among others, John Beard, Director of the Department of Ageing and Life Course, WHO; Mary Durham, Director of Research at Kaiser Permanente; Ulf Kristersson, Swedish Minister for Social Security; and Nicklas Lundblad, Google Europe. The inaugural address will be held by H.R.H Queen Silvia, who chairs the Stiftelsen Silviahemmet (Silvia Home Foundation) and is deeply involved in the development of care for dementia. ‘

Journalists are welcome to attend the plenary lectures on both days, as well as the panel debates on the programme. These debates will summarise and conclude the roundtable discussions that will be held in private and will constitute a core component of the Summit.

What is Uppsala Health Summit?
Uppsala Health Summit is an international forum for frank and open dialogue on how to pave the way for research results and innovations to improve health and healthcare, to which decision-makers, experts and opinion leaders are invited.
Uppsala Health Summit’s inaugural conference takes place June 3-4 and is themed Healthcare for Healthy Ageing.

For questions and more information, please contact Chief Press Officer Anneli Waara, mobile: +46 (0)70-425 07 18, anneli.waara@uadm.uu.se

Programme and more information: http://www.uppsalahealthsummit.se/program

In advance of the meeting Uppsala Health Summit has produced a Pre-Conference report, Healthcare for Healthy Ageing, with accounts of the current state of knowledge relating to the discussions in plenum and workshops. The report can be ordered via info@uppsalahealthsummit.se or downloaded at http://www.uppsalahealthsummit.se/our-publications/