On 14 October 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO), through its Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA), and the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize a close collaboration and exchange aimed at improving care for healthy ageing.

The EuGMS is a non-profit international association devoted to fostering the collaboration and coordination of 39 national geriatric medical societies across Europe. In particular, the EuGMS’ objectives are:

1. To develop geriatric medicine in Europe as an independent speciality caring for older people with age-related diseases.
2. To support that these services become available to all European citizens. To support the development of health services suitable for an ageing population.
3. To promote education and continuing professional development
4. In conjunction with the Section of Geriatric Medicine of the European Union of Medical Specialists, to promote geriatric medicine to the European Commission and Parliament
5. To promote evidence-based consensus for the most efficacious preventive and treatment strategies for older people in Europe.

Under this MoU, the WHO and EuGMS will work together to raise awareness about the importance of re-orienting health and social care services with the final goal of promoting the continuum of quality, integrated health and long-term care necessary for healthy ageing. In this context, they will also operate in synergy to build the capacities and skills of health and care workers on the principles of geriatric medicine and the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach.

Through this MoU, the WHO will more closely interact with the many societies of geriatrics and gerontology active in the European region, finding in the EuGMS a unique partner for gathering information on the status of care for older persons in multiple countries. At the same time, the EuGMS will support the development and dissemination of improved care for healthy ageing.

The signature of the MoU occurs at the end of the first triennium of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030), a global collaboration coordinated by the WHO that aims at transforming the world to be a better place to grow older through multistakeholder engagement of governments, civil society, international organizations, professionals, academic institutions, the media, and the private sector.