Last week, I attended the 2009 meeting of the British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) in Manchester. I’m reminded again of the current stats on the ageing population:

—Of the current total world population of over 6.8 billion, there are over 750 million people aged 60 and over (11% of the total population).

—By 2050, the over-60 population is predicted to be just over 2 billion.

— By the end of the decade, there will be about 106 million people aged 80 or over. By 2050, this figure is projected to nearly quadruple to 395 million.

—By 2050, there are expected to be eight times as many people aged 100 and over as there will be in 2010.

—By 2050, there will be more people aged 60 and over than aged 14 or less.

—In China by 2050, there will be 438 million people aged 60 and over. Of those, 103 million will be 80 or older.

(source: UN World Population Prospects 2009)

With these in mind, do you reckon that we continue to do research on ageing?