EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT

Gloria M. Gutman, PhD (Canada)

SECRETARY-GENERAL/VICE-PRESIDENT

John E. Gray, PhD (Canada)

TREASURER

Andrew V. Wister, PhD (Canada)

PRESIDENT-ELECT

Renato Maia Guimarães MD, MSc

PAST PRESIDENT

Gary Andrews, MD (Australia)

REGIONAL CHAIRS

Sung-Jae Choi, PhD (Korea)Roger McCarter, PhD (USA)Robert Moulias, MD (France)Pedro Paulo Marin, MD (Chile)

SECRETARIAT

International Association of GerontologyGerontology Research CentreSimon Fraser University2800-515 West Hastings StreetVancouver, BC, Canada V6B 5K3tel +1 604 268 7972 fax +1 604 291 5066email iag@sfu.caweb http://www.sfu.ca/iag

Production Editor: Mykle LudvigsenExecutive Assistant: Lorraine Krakow

ISSN 1683-3171

Four Years of Achievement for IAGMessage from the President

BY GLORIA M. GUTMAN

Volume 17, No. 5 June, 2005IAG Newsletter

As my four year term as President of IAG comes to an end, it iswith a sense of great accomplishment that I write this report ofour activities during my term. First among these is facilitationof the active involvement of the Council in the affairs of theAssociation. In the past, the Council typically met only onceevery four years – in conjunction with the World Congress. Inthe period 2001-2005, in contrast, it met every year – in Valen-cia, Spain in April 2002; in Barcelona in July 2003; and in Vi-enna in September 2004. On each occasion, a majority of themember societies were represented. On each occasion, Councilmembers engaged in lively debate, demonstrating enthusiasmand a strong commitment to IAG.

History Made in ViennaOn September 18-19, 2004, 65 Council members representing 49 societies and 47countries assembled in Vienna for what was to be a historic meeting in terms of thefuture development of IAG. At the meeting Council voted to open membership toboth gerontology and geriatrics societies. The criteria for admission remain the sameas they have always been: the society wishing to join must have 50 or more mem-bers, be national, multi-disciplinary and share the objectives and mission of IAG.What is new is a welcoming of additional societies comprised largely of medicaldoctors.

Council also endorsed a policy making it possible for all countries to have morethan one official member society. Both decisions reflect an appreciation of the changedenvironment since IAG was established in 1950. Over the past 55 years, ageing hasemerged as an important issue worldwide. Countries in all regions of the world areexperiencing a growth in their elderly population at the same time that birth ratesare declining and in some, the young adult population is being reduced by wars anddisease. The resulting population ageing is occurring especially rapidly in the devel-oping world. Personnel with expertise in gerontology and geriatrics are neededthroughout the world to attend to the health and social care needs of the burgeoningelderly population, to plan and deliver appropriately designed shelter and trans-portation, recreational opportunities, religious and spiritual support, as well as tobreak down the stereotypes and myths that prevent older people from participat-ing fully in their community of choice. To meet the challenge, new gerontology andgeriatrics societies have been established. In some cases, these have emerged in coun-tries that have never before had them; in other countries, in addition to the onesociety that is a member of IAG, others have emerged to meet perceived gaps inservices to members and/or the training needs and interests of a particular subset ofprofessionals. For example, in my home country of Canada, a geriatrics society wasdeveloped some years after the establishment of the Canadian Association on Ger-ontology. In other countries, a geriatrics society was formed first with an organiza-

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEtion more focused on social gerontology coming later.Rather than keeping some groups on the outside, it isnow possible for all who desire to join to do so as longas they meet our criteria and are approved by Council.

As Roger McCarter points out in the article on page10, multiple society memberships per country raisethe question of how Council representatives (votes)should be allocated. There are several possibilities: oneis to say that each country regardless of how manysocieties it has shall have only one vote. Another pos-sibility is for votes to be based (as they now are) on thenumber of members each society has regardless howmany societies a country has. A third possibility wouldbe to base votes on the combined membership of allmember societies of a country, with a suggested cap of10 per country so that no one country could dominatethe Council. The votes issue is one that was not final-ized in Vienna; it remains to be debated in Rio. (SeeSecretary-General’s report on page 7 for a descriptionof the four societies that have become members of IAGin the past nine months. This brings the total numberof IAG member societies to 70, an increase of 7 since Itook office in July 2001).Name ChangeA third key change that will result from the Councilmeeting in Vienna is a change in IAG’s name. As soonas the necessary procedures are completed to registerthe name change in Belgium where IAG was incorpo-rated, we will begin to use our new name of Interna-tional Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics(IAGG).Student Section DevelopmentAt the beginning of this quadrenium, only seven of ourmember societies had student sections. As part of ourEducation Initiative, a Student Section DevelopmentGrants Program was instituted following the Councilmeeting in Barcelona. This on-going program providesgrants of $800 USD to help groups to establish studentsections. To date, 10 grants have been awarded. Cur-rently, there are student sections in 16 of our membersocieties. As well, a student section has been devel-oped by the International Network for Prevention ofElder Abuse (INPEA) with the help of an IAG grant.Representatives of these 17 student sections will takepart on June 27, 2005 in Rio in the first ever meeting ofthe IAG International Council of Gerontology Students’Organizations (ICGSO). The 18th member of ICGSO,the International Students’ Network on Ageing andHealth, will also be prominently represented in Rio.This group, comprised of medical, pharmacy and nurs-

ing students, has worked with Brazilian students, todevelop a strong student program for the Rio Congress.The program will begin with a full day workshop thatwill take place on June 26, with other special studentsessions scheduled throughout the Congress.Partnership Activities with INPEAIAG is a charter member of the Steering Committeeestablished by INPEA for World Elder Abuse Aware-ness Day which will take place June 15, 2006. We areparticipating actively in a number of activities thatwill herald this important event including serving onthe development committee for INPEA’s InternationalArt Competition. The theme of the competition is “MyWorld, Your World, Our World – Free of Elder Abuse”.Entries are being solicited from students attending anationally or internationally recognized art school. Thiscompetition, which is currently underway, seeks anappropriate logo for the 2006 event.

IAG is also partnering with INPEA in awardingthe 1st Rosalie Wolf Memorial Prize for the best stu-dent paper or poster presented in Rio on an elder abuseprevention theme. Funds for the $500 USD prize comefrom an endowment fund established by IAG follow-ing the Vancouver Congress to commemorate the un-timely death of Dr. Wolf, a founder and strong sup-porter of INPEA.UN ActivitiesFor the first time in recent history, during 2004 and2005, the IAG filled its quota of five representativesaccredited at the NGO Section of the UN’s Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in New York. Wealso had two accredited representatives with DESA inVienna, and one with DESA in Geneva. Additionally, inthe Spring of 2005 we took advantage of the opportu-nity to name a representative and an alternate to theNGO Section of the UN’s Division of Public Informa-tion in New York. The names of the UN team are shownin the box on page 12. This excellent team, comprised ofa mix of working professionals, academics and retiredpersons, participated as observers in many events atthe UN. Examples include the 43rd Session of the Com-mission for Social Development which took place inNew York, February 9-18, 2005, the Informal Interac-tive Hearings of the General Assembly which took placeJune 23-24 and the High-Level Segment June 19-July 1,2005.

Of special note is the statement (see pages 11-12)delivered by Astrid Stuckelberger on behalf of IAG and19 other NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC atthe 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEheld at the UN in Geneva April 14-22, 2005 .

The team also participated in meetings of the NGOCommittee on Ageing (COA) at each UN site. The COAsare part of the Council of Non-governmental Organi-zations in Consultative Status with the UN (CONGO)of which IAG is a long-standing member. In 2005, Astridbecame the Chair of the COA in Geneva – another firstfor IAG.

In Rio there will be four symposia addressing IAG’srole in follow-up to the 2nd UN World Assembly onAgeing. The first is a Presidential Symposium that Ihave co-convened with Alexandre Sidorenko, the UNFocal Point on Ageing, entitled “Madrid +3: Road toImplementation”. The speakers will include HaniaZlotnik, Director, Population Division, UN Dept. of Eco-nomic and Social Affairs, with whom I met in Febru-ary. Other distinguished speakers will include ClaudeRocan, Director-General, Centre for Healthy HumanDevelopment, a part of the new Public Health Agencyof Canada and Vice Minister Jai-Seong Song, Ministryof Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea. Both are im-portant actors in the implementation of the MadridPlan in their respective countries. Vice-Minister Songbrings the perspective of a country that is ageing veryrapidly; Dr. Rocan will speak about chronic diseasemanagement as a public health issue, expressing theperspective of a developed country that has aged com-paratively slowly. Dr. Sidorenko, the 4th speaker, willdiscuss activities undertaken by the UN in partner-ship with IAG to identify global and regional researchpriorities (i.e. The Research Agenda on Ageing for the21st Century project). I will focus on the IAG’s Educa-tion Initiative and potential future developments in

education and training, particularly with respect toassisting with capacity building of professionals andresearchers in the developing world.

A second Presidential Symposium I have convenedis entitled “The Role of International NGOs in Advanc-ing the Global Agenda on Ageing”. In it, speakers fromAARP, Help the Aged UK, the International Federationon Ageing, and IAG (myself) will focus on follow-up ofthe NGO Forum held in Madrid in parallel with theUN 2nd World Assembly on Ageing. At the Forum,NGOs were vocal in stressing the importance of inputfrom civil society and the key role that NGOs wouldplay in assisting governments to operationalize thegoals and objectives in the Madrid International Planof Action. Three years have now passed since the Ma-drid meetings. It will be interesting to hear how eachof the participating organizations has played that role.

My third Presidential symposium addresses Issue8 of Priority 1 in the Madrid Plan – Emergency Situa-tions. Entitled “The 2004 Tsunami and Older People –Reaction to a Disaster: Case Studies and LessonsLearned”, speakers will address the special issues ofolder people identified during the relief operations ofthe 2004 Tsunami disaster. These data will be com-pared and contrasted with previous natural and man-made disaster situations that have occurred aroundthe world and from which some long term impact dataare available.

The fourth symposium, convened by AstridStuckelberger, is entitled “The Role of IAG inMainstreaming Ageing in the United Nations SystemToday: What Challenges, Strategies and Actions?”Speakers will include myself, Astrid, as well as UNageing activists from the COMLAT and Asia/Oceaniaregions.Support for Millennium Development GoalsThe UN has identified 7 Millennium Development Goals(MDGs):• Eradication of poverty• Universal education• Gender equality• Reduction of child mortality• Maternal health• Conquest of AIDS• Global partnerships for developmentWhile issues of ageing and older persons are not spe-cifically mentioned in the MDGs, in fact they cross-cutall of these goals. To be sure, many older persons live in

Gutman and Kalache receive gifts from the Prime Minister of Turkey

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEpoverty, many are illiterate, many, especially women,suffer from the effects of gender inequality, and earlierinsufficient or inappropriate maternal and child care.

Activities undertaken this past year by IAG in sup-port of the MDGs include participating in a joint WHO/UNFPA workshop on Women Ageing and Health: aGender Perspective held in New York February 28-March 1, 2005. The workshop was part of a joint WHO/UNFPA project that aims to achieve a better under-standing of how gender and related determinants ofhealth (culture, socioeconomic, environmental, behav-ioural and personal factors) impact on women’s healthand access to care as they age. Specific objectives of theworkshop are to produce a report that will contributeto the implementation of the Madrid International Planof Action on Ageing and the Beijing +10 review proc-ess. There will be another workshop convened by thisgroup immediately following the IAG World Congressin Rio that I shall attend.

It should also be noted that in partnership with theInternational Institute on Ageing UN-Malta, and Helpthe Aged UK, IAG has been lobbying Commonwealthgovernments to raise awareness of issues of ageing andHIV/AIDS. A parallel conference on the topic, to takeplace when the First Ministers meet in Malta in No-vember, 2005 is currently under development.World Ageing SurveyAs reported at the Council meeting in Vienna, in Au-gust 2004, I appointed Jean-Marie Robine and CarolJagger as co-chairs of a working group to examine thefeasibility of undertaking a survey that would exam-ine a number of the research questions identified in theUN-IAG Global Research Agenda on Ageing for the 21stCentury. Of particular interest would be to compareand contrast a sample of countries with high, mediumand low life expectancy at birth (currently the range isfrom 42 years in parts of Africa to 82 years in Japan).The first meeting of the Technical Committee for whatis being called the World Ageing Survey (WAS) al-though it will not include all countries, was held inTokyo in February, 2005. A second meeting is sched-uled for Rio. Also scheduled for Rio is the first formalmeeting of the WAS Steering Committee. Over the lastsix months a number of organizations involved incross-national comparisons of health and ageing andthought to be key to the success of the survey (e.g. UNDP,UNFPA, WHO, UNPD, UN Statistics Division) have beenapproached to be members of the Steering Committee.Responses to date have been enthusiastic and encour-ageing. Next steps are to secure funding.

Participation in Conferences and Special EventsMembers of the Executive Committee represented IAGat a number of important conferences organized byour member societies. Examples include the AnnualMeeting of the Association of Gerontology (India) whichJohn Gray attended in New Delhi in November, 2004; aspecial symposium on World Response to Ageing Soci-ety convened by the Federation of Korean Gerontologi-cal Societies in Seoul, in November in which speakersincluded Gary Andrews, Renato Maia Guimaraes,Sung-Jae Choi and myself (as well as Mary Gilhooly,then President of the British Gerontology Society); anda Healthy and Active Ageing Symposium, organizedby the Indonesia Society of Gerontology which GaryAndrews and myself (and Joseph Troisi – President ofthe Maltese Gerontology Society) participated in dur-ing December, in Jakarta.

Participation in these events gave members of theExecutive Committee an opportunity to get to knowthe leaders and members of IAG’s member societies.Through press conferences and meetings with govern-ment officials, we aided our member societies in pro-moting gerontology research and education in theircountry.

Another major outcome was the signing of an agree-ment between IAG and the Indonesian Society of Ger-ontology to organize a special event to be held August10-13, 2006 in Jakarta – A Collegium InternationaleGeronto Pharmacologicum (CIGP). Reflecting a broadapproach to medications that may be effective in healthcare of the elderly, the theme of this congress will be“From traditional through bio-molecular to nano-tech-nology medication”. An international advisory com-mittee that will include the IAG Regional chairs, othermembers of the incoming and outgoing Executive Com-mittees as well as representatives of key UN agenciesand other international organizations is currently be-ing developed. More information will be provided inRio about the CIGP by the Chair of the OrganizingCommittee, Dr. Tony Setiabuhdi.

Members of the Executive Committee also served onthe organizing committee and attended a number ofconferences organized by other NGOs. In my case, theseincluded the International Federation on Ageing Con-gress held in Montreal in October, 2004 and a NordicDemographers Symposium held in Aalborg, Denmarkin April, 2005. A major objective in attending these wasto identify common ground and ways that IAG mightcollaborate and cooperate with these organizations.

continued on page 9...

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ELDER ABUSEInternational Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

The research agenda of INPEA – the International Net-work for Prevention of Elder Abuse and WorldViewon Elder Abuse was launched at New York Universityin October 2003. The Worldwide Needs Assessmenttool has been through many revisions and will soon beready to administer. International researchers havecontributed their expertise to its development.

Interest in the World Elder Abuse Awareness Dayon June 15, 2006 continues to grow. A Steering Com-mittee of representatives from IAG, WHO, IFA, AARP,HelpAge International, the Sub-Committee on ElderAbuse of the UN NGO Committee on Ageing and oth-ers have been working to ensure that linkages are madewith governments, organizations and communitiesaround the world. Everyone is invited to participatein this initiative. A tool kit is being generated for dis-semination at the IAG World Congress in Rio in June2005. In seeking an appropriate logo for the Aware-ness Day we are conducting a competition among stu-dents attending international art schools. A prize willbe awarded to the winner and other submissions willbe featured in the various materials we hope to pro-duce. For more information, please visit our websites:www.inpea.net and www.sfu.ca/iag.

We congratulate Dr. Lia Daichman who received theRosalie Wolf Memorial Award at the Family ViolenceConference in San Diego, September 2004. A very suc-cessful North America Regional Meeting was held inWashington D.C. in conjunction with the Gerontologi-cal Society of America (GSA) conference in November2004. Over fifty members attended and responded en-thusiastically to presentations by Dr. Tony Antonucci,University of Michigan, Dr. Ariela Lowenstein, Uni-versity of Haifa, and Dr. Gloria Gutman, President ofIAG and Special Advisor to INPEA.

INPEA is very pleased to announce the establish-ment of a student membership category. The goal is toencourage students to become part of the elder abuseprevention community. Membership will provide stu-dents access to research experts who may serve asmentors and will foster interest in participation inelder abuse activities such as writing for scholarlypublications and becoming involved in elder abuseawareness projects. Special sections of the INPEA News-

letter and website will be designated to student mem-bership. A special issue of the Journal of Elder Abuseand Neglect, entitled World Congress on Family Vio-lence: The Prague Papers, in memory of Gerry Bennett,will feature papers that were to be presented by INPEAmembers in June 2003 in Prague at the World Congresson Family Violence that was cancelled. INPEA repre-sentatives - Elizabeth Podnieks (Canada), JordanKosberg (United States) and Ariela Lowenstein (Israel)are the guest co-editors.

World Elder Abuse Day Established: June 15, 2006BYELIZABETH PODNIEKS AND SUSAN B. SOMMERS

In Memoriam: Fernando Portocarrero1954-2005

The Latin American and Caribbean Region (COMLAT)and the IAG Council lost a good friend with the un-timely passing of Fernando Portocarrero. Fernando,elected President of the Gerontology and GeriatricsSociety of Peru on the 21 of February, 2005 was a found-ing member who served his Society and Region wellfor many years as an IAG Council member and as aDirector of COMLAT. Fernando graduated as a physi-cian and surgeon in 1981 from the National Universityof Lima, Peru. In 1981-82 he studied internal medicineat Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. He specializedin Geriatrics at the Military Hospital of the BrazilianArmy in Rio de Janeiro in 1985-86. In the same city, in1986-87 he did a post graduate course in internal medi-cine at the Santa Casa de la Misericordia Hospital. In1987 he took a course in Social Gerontology in Annecy,France and in 1988 obtained the title of Specialist inGeriatry from the University Cayetano Heredia inLima, Peru. He was a university professor; he tookpart in many courses, seminars and congresses as aspeaker; he also was a collaborator of the Program ofthe Third Age of the Pan American Health Organiza-tion, among other institutions dedicated to service tosenior citizens. At the time of his passing, he was theMedical Director of the Geriatric Clinic of the Army, aninstitution that gave him unconditional backing. Hewill be remembered as an important figure in the de-velopment of Gerontology and Geriatrics in his coun-try and Region.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIESStudent Section

Canadian Association Awards 20 Student Travel GrantsBY NORAH KEATING

The CanadianAssociation onG e r o n t o l o g y(CAG) hasawarded 20Legacy Fundgrants of $2000(CAD) to assiststudents to at-tend the 18thIAG WorldCongress in Rioin June, 2005.The LegacyTrust Fund wasendowed byCAG with rev-enue from theIAG conferenceheld in Vancou-ver, Canada in2001, and willcontinue to sup-port Canadianas well as inter-national stu-dents to attendIAG conferencesin the future.

Ten awardswere to stu-dents registeredin a Canadianuniversity and 10 to students registered in a non-Ca-nadian university at the time of application. The homeuniversity, not citizenship, determined eligibility. Inthe international competition preference was given tothose attending a university in a developing country.Criteria for awards included full-time enrolment in aresearch-based masters or doctoral degree programor postdoctoral appointment, academic excellence anddemonstration that their program and thesis topic arefocused on ageing or the aged. Legacy committee mem-bers are: Dr. Norah Keating (chair), Dr. Réjean Hébert,Dr. Dorothy Pringle, Ms. Valerie White and Dr. Victor

Student Country Degree/Program University Soumitra Basu India PhD in Anthropology University of Calcutta Keith Bellizzi USA Postdoctoral Fellow in Cancer

Prevention & Control National Cancer Institute & George Washington University.

Predrag Erceg Serbia and Montenegro

PhD in Gerontology University of Belgrade

Challa Geetha India PhD in Home Science Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University

Madelin Gomez Cuba Masters in Population Studies Havana University Juan Liu China Masters in Gerontology University of China Leah Macaden India PhD in Nursing Northumbria University Lisiane Paskulin Brazil PhD in Nursing University of San Paulo

Nobilla Valentin Yameogo

Burkina Faso PhD in Medicine Ouagadougou University

Xiaobo Yuan China Masters in Gerontology University of China Elizabeth Andersen Canada Masters in Nursing University of Calgary Claudine Auger Canada Masters in Biomedical Sciences,

(rehab option) University of Montreal

Heather A. Cooke Canada Masters in Gerontology Simon Fraser University

Paula Gardner Canada PhD in Health & Behavioural Science

University of Toronto

Dawn Gill Canada PhD in Epidemiology & Biostatistics

University of Western Ontario

Andrea Gregg Canada Masters in Sociology University of Victoria Cat Tuong Nguyen Canada PhD in Public Health University of Montreal Julia Rozanova Canada PhD in Sociology University of Alberta Kristine Votova Canada PhD in Sociology University of Victoria

Aleksandra Zecevic Canada PhD in Kinesiology University of Western Ontario

Marshall.The 20 students who received awards are listed

above. Receipt of the award was contingent on formalnotification of acceptance of their abstract by the IAGWorld Congress Program Committee, and attendanceat the meeting.

www.gerontology2005.org.br

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Secretary General’s Report

Representing IAG Around the World

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

visit the rio congress website:

BY JOHN GRAY

National VisitI was privileged to be invited to represent the IAG atthe opening ceremonies of the Association of Gerontol-ogy (India) Congress held in Delhi, India November 5-7, 2004. Dr A. B. Dey, the President of the Association,chaired the Congress. A highlight of the colourful open-ing ceremonies was a speech by the Minister of Healthfor all India in which he discussed issues of older peo-ple and made significant program improvement an-nouncements.

I was also privileged to attend the annual meetingof the Association I heard the dynamic planning forthe coming year. Dr Dey was thanked for his excellentservice as President and as IAG Council member. Prof.M.K. Thakur (e-mail mkt_bhu@yahoo.com) the newPresident will continue the important involvement ofAssociation of Gerontology (India) with IAG.By-LawsChanges to the by-laws made in Vienna in September2004, but not yet approved by the Belgium Govern-ment, included:(1) Membership in the Association shall be by nationalgerontology and/or geriatrics organizations (societies)with the exception as provided in Article 7 [up to 49individual members]. To be eligible for membershipan organization (society) must

a) be national in its scope and multidisciplinary inmembership;

b) have a primary orientation toward research,education and training in gerontology and/orgeriatrics;

c) and be approved by Council. (Thus more thanone organization per country can join IAG)

(2) The name of the IAG be changed to the "Interna-

tional Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics". (Thismust be ratified by Council and then the Belgium Gov-ernment)

Notice of motion has been sent to Council membersfor consideration of by-law changes in Rio. In addi-tion, previous votes including the mail vote on thehousekeeping by-law changes required by the Belgiumgovernment, which was passed, need to be ratified.The Manual of Operating Procedures is being updatedin view of changes in by-laws and experience over thepast 4 years and will be presented to Council in Rio forapproval.New MembersThe Council, at its Vienna meeting , voted to acceptthree new member societies. A fourth was accepted bymail ballot in November. New members included:• The Gerontological Association of Argentina

(AGA) which was established in 1974. It has 251members and the President is Dr Roberto Barca.Email: rebarca@centrodedia.com .

• The Canadian Geriatrics Society which has 203members, its website is atwww.canadiangeriatrics.ca and Email: info@cgs-scg.ca. Dr Chris MacKnight is the President.

• The Spanish Society of Geriatric Medicine(SEMEG) which has 193 members. Its President isDr Juan Jose Solano Jaurrieta and Email is:secretaria@semeg.org

• The Asociacion Mexicana de Gerontologia yGeriatria AMGG. It has 727 members. The Presi-dent is Dra. Leonor Pedrero Nieto. Email:amggac@prodigy.net.mx

Information about all member societies can be foundon the IAG website (www.sfu.ca/iag).

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OUR REGIONSAsia-Oceania Struggles with December 26 TsunamiOn the World Stage

BY SUNG-JAE CHOI, CHAIR, ASIA-OCEANIA REGION

The next venue of the 8th Asia/Oceania Regional Con-gress of Gerontology is Beijing, China. It will be organ-ized by the Gerontological Society of China and spon-sored by the China National Committee on Ageing withthe theme of “Health, Participation, Security, and Shar-ing.” The theme will cover biology, medicine, indus-trial development, sociology, health science, social re-search and policy, and geriatrics. The scientific sessionswill include 12 special topics seminars and round-ta-ble meetings. More detailed plans will be reported atthe regional council meeting during the Rio Congress.IAG Council Member for Indonesia Visited TsunamiDisaster AreaDuring January 2005 Dr. Tony Setiabudhi, an IAG Coun-cil member for Indonesia, and his medical school teamvisited Aceh province, struck by the Tsunami on Decem-ber 26, 2004. He observed a wide disaster- struck areaalong the Northwestern coast of Indonesia and visitedtwo places with special support by police aircraft. Onewas Simeulue, an island located only a few kilomentresfrom the epicenter of the earthquake. This island showedthe lowest rate of victims compared to its total area popu-lation: only seven including two school children and twoolder persons from 76,128 inhabitants. This may be dueto people’s immediate movement toward higher placesbelieving an ancient wisdom that ‘if an earthquake wouldhappen one should run directly to the hilly areas’. Dr.Setiabudhi also visited Meulaboh one of the places mostseverely struck by the tsunami. It was said that 6,200were buried and still thousands were missing among itspopulation of 178,000. In response to reports that manysurvivors were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Dis-order, his team brought a Video Compact Disc (VCD) of‘relaxation exercise’ which can be disseminated to volun-teers who can practice it after a short training course.This VCD was used previously by Dr. Setiabudhi in Hol-land while treating Concentration Camp Syndrome. Arelaxation exercise program was scheduled to begin assoon as the training course was over.Gerontological Society, SingaporeThe main development in 2004 was an approach inJanuary by the Ministry of Community Development,Youth and Sports to Gerontological Society PresidentHenry Lim, to conduct a “Study on the State of Geron-tology in Singapore.” This research was an opportu-

nity not to be missed as it gave the GS the chance toadvocate for the development of education, trainingand research in the field of Gerontology in Singapore, arapidly ageing society.

The Vice President of GS, Dr. Kalyani Mehta waschosen to lead a multidisciplinary team, comprised ofthe President and four other key researchers, that in-cluded a geriatrician, a policy expert, academics andpractitioners. The final report (189 pages) was acceptedby the government in August 2004, and they are nowdeliberating on the recommendations.

One key recommendation was for establishment ofa National Education and Research Institute on Age-ing. Other activities of GS in 2004 included a First An-nual Seminar. Held in December, the theme was “Car-ing for the Elderly in a Changing Society.” This semi-nar was well attended (more than 100 participants),indicating that Singaporeans are very keen to gainknowledge on preparation for ageing. The speakers in-cluded geriatrician Prof. Ng Tze Pin, academics Profes-sors Victor Goh, Kua Ee Heok, and well-experiencedgerontologists Dr. Chow Yeow Leng, Mr. Laurence Wee,and Ms. Diana Koh. The Chairpersons were Mr. HenryLim and Emeritus Professor Kiang Ai Kim, who is a 90year-old retired Chancellor of the National Universityof Singapore! Also noteworthy are two researchprojects funded by the GS. The first was on Percep-tions of Elder Abuse and subsequently published un-der the banner of GS. The second was on Stress of HomeCarers of Elderly with Dementia. Both projects wereheaded by Dr. Chow Yeow Leng, a Council member ofGS. She involved 5 students from the Advanced Nurs-ing Diploma (Gerontology) program in each project.The Society is currently working on establishing a stu-dent section and running seminars on financial plan-ning and re-employment of senior Singaporeans.1st International Centenarian Conference Held in KoreaThe Southwestern region of Korea is designated as alongevity belt. One of the counties in the area,Sunchang-Gun, organized the first International Cen-tenarian Conference in October, 2004.

Professor Sang Chul Park introduced Korean lon-gevity and successively Dr. Leonard Poon from Geor-gia, USA, Drs. Nobuyoshi Hirose, Hiroshi Shimokata,and Yasuyuki Gondo from Japan, and Dr. Gianneta

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OUR REGIONSMurru from Italy presented their respective nationalstudies of centenarians. Drs. Gyung Hae Han, Mee SookLee, In Soon Kwon, Jung Je Lee, Sam Ock Park, and KyungSoo Chun explained the results of Korean centenarianstudy focused on family relationships, dietary habitsand nutritional status, medical characteristics, analy-sis of regional characteristics, innovational networks ofthe longevity area, and anthropology, respectively.Special Symposium on Regional Ecological Factorson LongevityThe Division of Medical Science, Korea Academy of Sci-ence and Technology held a special symposium com-paring the Southwestern Region, a historic longevityarea with Gangwon Province, in the Northeastern re-gion of Korea, where longevity has recently increasedrapidly. Drs. Jung Je Lee, Sam Ock Park, Gyung HaeHan, Mee Sook Lee, and In Soon Kwon compared thetwo regions in terms of ecological characteristics, in-novative networks, family system, dietary habits andnutritional status, and medical characteristics. Profes-sor Sang Chul Park proposed a new paradigm, an idealfuture plan for longevity community development.International Conference on Quantitative andQualitative Perspective of LongevityThis year, for the first time, the The Korean Federation ofScience and Technology Societies supported an ageingconference. Organized by the Bioscience and Medicinedivision, under the title “Quantitative and QualitativePerspective of Longevity” it was held in Kyeongju oneof the oldest historic cities in Korea. The aim of this con-ference was to foster effective international and inter-disciplinary collaboration among leading scientists, andthereby, promote new breakthroughs in the field of age-ing research. Starting with Dr. Byung Pal Yu’s keynotespeech, Drs. Igor B. Robinson, Simon Melov, Jan Vijg,Yousin Suh, Steven K. Juhn, Kiyoshi Hashizume, BharatAggarwal, Junji Terao, George Perry, Stephen Spindler,Christiaan Leeuwenburgh and selected Korean scien-tists met for 3 days of productive discussion.The 4th Korean-Japan Gerontologists’ JointMeetingThe 2004 Spring Conference of the Korean Society forGerontology and the 4th Korean-Japan GerontologistJoint Meeting were held at Hallym University inChuncheon in June, 2004. This Conference included twospecial lectures from Dr. Byung Pal Yu and Dr. An SikChung and six scientific sessions on Physiology,Oxidative Stress, Genomic Instability & Telomere, Nu-tritional Intervention, Growth Regulation & Signalingand Neurodegeneration.

The agenda was different in the case of the two con-ferences that I most recently have attended. In these, itwas more focused on assisting with national capacitybuilding. Both took place in Turkey. From May 2-8, Iparticipated in the 1st International Care Conference.Held in Istanbul and chaired by Dr. Kemal Aydin, itbrought a number of government officials from thePrime Ministry’s General Directorate of Social Servicesand Child Protection Agency and from its Adminis-tration on Disabled People together with researchers,practitioners and advocates for ageing persons and per-sons with disabilities. One important outcome of thisconference was the Istanbul Declaration on Active Age-ing and Old Age Care. As part of it, conference partici-pants endorsed the call by the World Health Organi-zation, represented by Alex Kalache, and by IAG rep-resented by me, for Turkey to champion ‘ageing issues’within the international community. It was felt by thegroup that Turkey was well suited to play a centralrole as a champion of population ageing by virtue of itsgeographic and historic position as a bridge betweenEast and West, rich and poor, the developing and de-veloped world, as well as its culture and traditions.

The second conference, held at Akdeiz Universityin Antalya, and supported by the Scientific and Tech-nical Research Council of Turkey, was also a first forthe country in focusing on social and applied gerontol-ogy. Discussions are currently underway concerningways IAG might assist the conference chair, Dr. IsmailTufan, in stimulating the establishment of research cen-tres and educational programs in social and appliedgerontology within Turkish universities.Concluding RemarksAs I hope I have conveyed in the above remarks as wellas in reports in the four previous issues of the IAGNewletter produced by the Vancouver Secretariat, thishas been an exciting and productive quadrenium forIAG. We have much to feel proud of in terms of accom-plishments with respect to the Council, our studentprogram, other aspects of our Education Initiative, ourResearch Agenda Project and other involvements withthe UN. I look forward to assisting with the develop-ment of the two recently initiated projects – the WorldAgeing Survey and the CIGP - and to continuing tofoster our UN activities and gerontology component ofour Education Initiative. I wish the best to Renato MaiaGuimaraes and his team and look forward to workingwith them over the next four years in my new positionof Immediate Past President.

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OUR REGIONSNorth American Region

Canadian Geriatrics Society joins North American Region

At the start of 2004 the NorthAmerican Regional Committeewas composed of 3 representa-tives each from the AmericanGeriatrics Society (AGS), the Ger-ontological Society of America(GSA) and the Canadian Asso-ciation on Gerontology (CAG) .However this composition hasnow changed, so as to include a

representative from the Canadian Geriatrics Society(CGS ), as outlined below.

There have been three major focuses of committeeactivity during the past 12 months, as well as severalongoing projects. The primary focus has been on solic-iting and judging symposium submissions for presen-tation at the IAG World Congress in Rio.

A second focus has been on the selection of a site forthe 2007 Pan American Congress on Gerontology andGeriatrics, following the highly successful event organ-ized by COMLAT in Argentina in 2003. The appropriaterotation of this event would have placed it in Canada,under CAG direction. However the CAG demurred, fol-lowing their hosting of the outstanding IAG World Con-gress in Vancouver, 2001. Other NARC member socie-ties similarly declined to host the event. NARC thensolicited bids from northern hemisphere IAG members.At a committee meeting held in San Diego in 2003, mem-bers voted to hold the event in Mexico and to appointDr. David Espino (AGS representative to NARC) asPresident of the 2007 Pan American Congress. Dr. FelixMartinez-Arronte, of the Sociedad es Sociedad deGeriatria y Gerontologia de Mexico, will serve as Con-gress Vice-President and will Chair the Organizing Com-mittee. He will also act as liaison between the Sociedadand NARC. The Organizing Committee plans to includerepresentatives from COMLAT, NARC and the host so-ciety, in order to attract participants from throughoutthe Americas. Further plans for this event will be pre-sented at the World Congress in Rio.

The third focus of NARC has been on the admissionof the Canadian Geriatrics Society (CGS) to IAG mem-bership. This occurred at the IAG Council meeting inVienna, 2004. NARC enthusiastically welcomed theCGS as a new member at the NARC meeting in Wash-

ington, November 2004. Discussions between the CGSPresident, Dr. Chris MacKnight, and NARC Chair, Dr.Roger McCarter indicated that CGS was not interestedin hosting the 2007 Pan American Congress. Dr.MacKnight also suggested that, pending revision ofIAG and NARC voting procedures, the CGS might beallocated one of the current 3 CAG representative po-sitions. This suggestion was accepted unanimouslyby NARC members at the meeting in November, 2004.Thus, until IAG and NARC voting procedures are re-vised, CGS will have one voting representative andCAG two voting representatives on NARC.

Ongoing activities of NARC are centered on a re-evaluation of the goals of the Pan American Congressand on revision of voting representation of NARC mem-ber societies. At the November 2004 meeting membersvoted unanimously that “chairs of NARC andCOMLAT… review the purpose, role and value of thePan American Congress to members in both Regions…”Accordingly, Drs. Marin and McCarter have ongoingdiscussions regarding the expectations of IAG membersocieties in both regions for this Congress. The difficultissue of voting privileges is also under discussion: Atthe IAG Council Meeting in Vienna (2004), Council mem-bers charged the IAG Executive Committee to re-evalu-ate member voting rights and to present proposals atthe World Congress in Rio. The issue centres aroundwhether or not societies with large memberships (say5,000 members) should have larger or equal numbers ofvoting (Council) representatives as societies withsmaller numbers of members (say 500 members). TheIAG Council Meeting was unable to resolve this issueand a similar dilemma faces NARC. At the meeting inWashington ( November 2004 ), NARC members ex-pressed the view that representation on the Committeeshould be consistent with procedures adopted by theIAG, whatever these may be. Because of this, membersvoted to delay revision of NARC Bylaws, pending thedecision of IAG Council on voting guidelines.

In general, these are times of growth and involve-ment of NARC members in the affairs of world-wideageing. There has been good participation of repre-sentatives from all member societies in committee ac-tivities. We have also enjoyed the participation ofCOMLAT President, Dr. Pedro Paulo Marin and IAGPresident, Dr. Gloria Gutman, in our deliberations.

BY ROGER MCCARTER , CHAIR, NORTH AMERICAN REGION

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UNITED NATIONSStatement to the 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights

We call the attention of the Commission to the urgentneed to recognize the rights of older persons and main-stream ageing issues in the agenda of the Commission.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan referred to popu-lation ageing as a “silent revolution” and stressed theimportance of older persons:

“The world is undergoing an unprecedented demographictransformation. Between now and 2050, the number of olderpersons will rise from about 600 million to almost two billion.The increase will be greatest in developing countries[…]….where numbers are expected to multiply by four. […] Inless than 50 years from now, for the first time in history, theworld will contain more people over 60 years old than under 15[…].”

Therefore older persons are no longer a minority,they are becoming a growing majority!.Despite thesefacts and the progress in some UN documents, ageingis still absent on the agenda and priorities of the UNand of the Commission on Human Rights.

We call your attention to the following develop-ments:

Beginning with the Universal Declaration of HumanRights, and encompassing the numerous InternationalInstruments there are many references to the Rights ofall. But not until the Declaration on Social Progress andDevelopment in 1969 is there mention specifically of oldage (in Article 11).

It took until 1982 for the UN to adopt the 1st Inter-national Plan of Action on Ageing in Vienna, and until1991 for the General Assembly to promulgate the UN

Ageing and the Rights of Older Persons

Principles for Older Persons (Resolution 46/91). We sawthen in 1995 the Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights finally adopting for the first time theGeneral comment no 6 on the Economic, Social andCultural Rights of Older PersonsOnly a few steps were taken since:• in 1999, by endorsing the Conceptual Framework

during the International Year of Older Persons,(DocA/50/114)4,

• in 2002 the 2nd World Assembly on Ageing in Ma-drid (WAA) adopted unanimously a Political Dec-laration and an International Strategic Plan of Ac-tion on Ageing.

Both of those documents include clear objectives andactions to be taken:• to ensure the Rights of older persons,• to protect older persons from “neglect, abuse and

violence” in all situations addressed by the UN(paragraph 07 and seq.) and,

• to recognize “their role and contribution to soci-ety”.

Delivered April 13, 2004 at the United Nations in Geneva by Astrid Stuckelberger, IAG representative to DESA-Geneva; Chair, Committee on Ageing, Geneva; Co-chair, Working Group on Health and Human Rights, Commit-tee on the Status of Women; and representative of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.This statement was endorsed by the following 20 non-governmental organizations in consultative status withECOSOC:

International Association of Gerontology, Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues, InternationalCouncil of Nurses, International Association for Counselling, Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’sAssociation International, Worldwide Organization for Women, World Movement of Mothers, Interna-tional Council of Women, International Council of Jewish Women, World Union for Progressive Judaism,World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, World Federation of Methodist Women, Women’s WorldSummit Federation, The Federation of American Women's Club's Overseas, Institute for Planetary Syn-thesis, International Inner Wheel, Brahma Kumaris Work Spiritual University, International andInterreligious Federation for World Peace, International Organization for the Right to Education andFreedom of Education* and International Federation of University Women.

www.sfu.ca/iag

For more history aboutIAG and its work:

However, It is obvious that these precedents are notenough to give older persons their Rights as well as rec-ognition of their contribution to society.It is clear that older persons are unrecognized and in-creasingly excluded and discriminated; just to cite afew examples:

(i) HIV/AIDS pandemic: the contribution of olderpersons is vital today, their right to care for or-phaned grandchildren and children in general –especially older women - is an unestimated con-tribution benefiting the socio-economic develop-ment as well as the human reconstruction of soci-ety, restoring an identity, transmitting higher val-ues and life skills.(ii) Migration: younger generations migrating fromdeveloping countries without solid welfare sys-tems leave behind them older women and men withno social, economic and family care support, thusincreasing their vulnerability, isolation, poverty,discrimination and lack of health care. On the otherhand, serious discussions are going on to delocalizeand rationalize older age health care solely for eco-nomic gain.(iii) The Information Society: exponential techno-logical development increases the generational di-

vide: in the 4 to 5 generation society we live in, the2 older generations are too often excluded and af-fected by the digital divide, making them “digitalhomeless”. Older persons are the first victims of adevelopment framework adapted primarily toyounger generations and productivity impera-tives; In addition, other situations remainunaddressed: older disabled persons, older mi-grants, older working poor, older refugees or dis-placed persons, older victims of conflict, war ordisasters, older prisoners, older tortured andabused persons, etc., but also key issues such asgender equality in old age, access to health, rightto dignity, respect of the cultural and spiritual lifeuntil the end of life...and after all, when you thinkabout it, each one of us is concerned or will be oneday concerned…

In all issues, the Right to Development must care-fully take into account old age and the generation-specificities of development over the life span untilthe end of life.

What is missing is the recognition that older per-son have Rights, but also need to be empowered tocarry out their important role and contribution tocohesion and peace in society and nations world-wide.

Therefore, wecall upon the Com-mission on HumanRights :• to appoint a spe-

cial Rapporteuron the Rights ofOlder Persons,

• to mainstreamageing in all is-sues addressed,and

• to specificallymention Olderpersons in theAgenda of thenext HumanRights Commis-sion.

IAG Representatives to NGO Section, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and Department of Public Information (DPI), 2005 DESA New York Gemma Beckley, DSW Juanita Carrillo, PhD James Collins, MPA Cynthia Cannon Poindexter,

MSW, PhD Tazuko Shibusawa, PhD DESA Geneva Astrid Stückelberger, PhD DESA Vienna Wolfgang Popp, MD Peter Fasching, MD DPI New York Marjorie Cantor, PhD Nora O’Brien, MA Special Advisor New York Rosa Perla Resnick, PhD,

DSW