A/HRC/18/37 the Caribbean (59 million), Africa (55 million) and Oceania (5 million).4 On average, it is estimated that 29 million older persons will be added to the world’s population each year between 2010 and 2025, and over 80 per cent of those will be added in the developing countries.5 By 2050, it is further projected that around 80 per cent of the elderly will live in the developing world.6 7. The Special Rapporteur considers these compelling figures a harbinger of a quiet demographic revolution. It owes much to the significant gains achieved in many areas which have substantially increased longevity but will have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences for all countries, developed and developing alike. A rapidly ageing population presents significant challenges for the global community, in a world that is already affected by various social, economic, cultural and political challenges. The immediate consequences of longer life expectancy include increases in the prevalence of chronic and non-communicable diseases and disabilities, which, if unaddressed, could place significant burdens on health systems, strain pension and social security systems, increase demand for primary health care and put pressure on the availability and affordability of long-term care. 8. Developing countries will be predominantly affected by the resulting epidemiological transition, when non-communicable diseases amongst older persons increase. The broader population will however continue to struggle with communicable diseases, particularly infectious diseases and other illnesses related to poverty. Developing age-friendly services and settings, and promotion of health care and preventive medicine among older persons will strengthen the efforts of developing countries to deal with the complications of chronic and terminal non-communicable illnesses. In order to address the challenge adequately, it is essential for States to prepare themselves to meet the needs of older persons, train health professionals in old-age care, and formulate sustainable policies for long-term care. 9. However, the ageing world’s most important challenge is to ensure the enjoyment of human rights of older persons. It is critical that measures be put in place to eradicate discrimination and exclusion of older persons and to ensure access to services according to their needs. In a statement marking the International Day of Older Persons, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay, pointed to the urgent need for better legal protection of older persons, a growing sector of society that is often most vulnerable and neglected, and she emphasized that “the human rights community has been slow in realizing that the global agenda and the advocacy efforts at the national level can no longer ignore the rights of older persons”.7 10. The Special Rapporteur believes that the right-to-health approach is indispensable for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health-related policies and programmes to mitigate consequences of an ageing society and to ensure the enjoyment of this human right by older persons. Such an approach to health-related issues includes human dignity, the needs and rights of this vulnerable group, and puts emphasis on ensuring that health systems are accessible, available and affordable to all. Integrating human rights into 4 5 6 7 4 Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing: comprehensive overview, Report of the Secretary-General (A/65/157), 21 July 2010, para. 4 Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing: comprehensive overview, Report of the Secretary-General (A/65/157), 21 July 2010, para. 5 10 Facts on Ageing and the Life Course, WHO Fact File, available at WHO homepage http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/ageing/en/index.html . “Millions of older persons are denied their rights”, Statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 1 October 2010 http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10402&LangID=E .