ocietal aging is well advanced in developed countries and is rapidly advancing
in many developing countries. This will clearly be the century of global aging. With such aging, countries will face the challenge of developing policies and institutions to address new needs for health care, income support, employment, education, and housing across a population with a novel age structure. Perhaps the major public health problem of the 21^st century will turn out to be the health of an aging population in systems ill equipped to provide chronic and long term care, not the resurgence of infectious diseases. Unless appropriate income and welfare support systems for the elderly are developed, key social determinants of health will be undermined. Societal aging in the context of urbanization and industrialization poses major threats to traditional family networks and systems of value. Demands for intergenerational equity – both for age groups and birth cohorts – will surface.

The Working Group on Global Aging consists of faculty and advanced graduate students interested in the empirical, policy, and ethical issues raised by global aging. Minimally, the working group gives members a chance to learn about the work of others addressing related problems. Additionally, the working group is an opportunity for participants to build collaboration across disciplines and schools that facilitate research and teaching on these issues.

The Center for Population and Development Studies and the new University Program in Ethics and Health at Harvard co-sponsor this effort. As well, David Canning and David Bloom from the Harvard Initiative on Aging expressed considerable interest in this working group.

Please reply to Norman Daniels PhD (ndaniels@hsph.harvard.edu) if you are interested in being a part of this group.