UNESCO forum on living better and longer

• © Lucile Diznoof

Leading French and international health researchers and practitioners will present the latest advances in medicine, genetics and geriatrics at a forum on “Longevity and Quality of Life: Latest advances for staying young longer” at UNESCO Headquarters on 16 September.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will open the forum which will feature the first public presentation of revolutionary medical practices. It will feature footage of an operation whereby a patient receives an artificial retina implant which enables the patient to regain some eyesight.

Fourteen leading scientists specializing in geriatrics or the genetics of longevity will take part in the forum which will be broadcast live on the internet. Geneticist Axel Kahn, will take the floor at 3 p.m. with a talk on “How long a life are we programmed for?”

Five Round Tables will follow, on ageing of the brain, changes in the eye and vision, locomotor complaints, staying young longer, and the search for longevity genes. French Health Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, will close the Forum at 6.30 p.m.

Other notable speakers at the forum include: the geneticist Patrick Aebischer, who specialises on neurological diseases; ophthalmologists Alan Bird and Professor José-Alain Sahel; as well as Medecine Nobel Prize laureate Christian de Duve.

Over 60s today account for 600 million people worldwide and their number is expected to rise to two billion in 2050. France currently has 15,000 people who are 100 or older, compared to only 600 in 1950 and the longer we live, the more pressing it becomes for us to find ways to preserve our mental, locomotor, visual and other faculties? Within their specific research areas, scientists are discovering how to slow down the ageing process or stop the evolution of geriatric diseases, while others are researching the genetic underpinning of longevity. This Forum will provide up-to-date information on these research topics.

This is the fifth UNESCO Scientific Forum organized with the weekly French news magazine, Paris Match. The first and second fora (2003) addressed breast cancer and AIDS respectively, the third (2005) was concerned with new treatments to fight arthritis, arthrosis and osteoporosis, and the fourth (2007) was on cancer.

• Author(s):Media Advisory N°2008-56
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 12-09-2008