The rapid pace of population ageing in the region is attracting increasing concern among government officials, health practitioners, academics and others. Two meetings in Tokyo in late November highlighted the greater attention being focused on this issue.

The United Nations Programme on Ageing and the International Association of Gerontology (IAG) jointly organized the “Expert Workshop on the Asian and the Pacific Research Agenda on Ageing: Asia and the Pacific’s Priorities in the 21st Century” from 22 to 24 November.

The Workshop brought together 17 experts representing the United Nations, IAG, Governments, research institutes, NGOs and a private foundation. The aim of the gathering was to propose a
research agenda on ageing. The discussion in the Workshop was based on the Shanghai Implementation Strategy: Regional Implementation Strategy for the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002 and the Macao Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific 1999, which had
been adopted at a regional seminar organized by ESCAP in Shanghai in September 2002.

The experts identified topics and priorities for research on each of the key areas in the Shanghai Implementation Strategy, i.e., older persons and development, advancing health and well-being into old age, and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. Once finalized for publication, the
recommendations of the Expert Workshop will be mounted on the web site of the Population and Social Integration Section of the Emerging Social Issues Division, ESCAP (http://www.unescap.org).

The 7th Asia/Oceania Regional Congress of Gerontology was held at Tokyo from 24 to 28 November. It was organized by the International

Association of Gerontology and attracted some 1,500 participants. A majority of the participants came from the health and medical fields but the Congress included sessions on ageing and social development, ageing research, and the rural elderly, in which eminent demographers and other social scientists from the region participated.

Addressing the opening ceremony, the Crown Prince of Japan stated: “We are now in the 21st century, when the shift to a rapidly ageing society is an issue all over the world, including Japan”. “It is becoming increasingly necessary to enhance the systems of medical care and social welfare for the elderly to ensure a happy and energetic environment for the aged”, the Crown Prince added. He said the
Asia/Oceania Regional Congress on Gerontology, meeting in Japan for the second time in 12 years, could play a critical role towards the creation of such an environment.