Longevity Summit – May 20, 2026

Longevity Summit – May 20, 2026 - EN

International Longevity Summit: IHU HealthAge and 55 experts call for France to become a European leader in healthy longevity

 

On the occasion of the Longevity Summit, held at the National Academy of Medicine under the high patronage of the President of the Republic, Toulouse-based IHU HealthAge today unveils a report dedicated to healthy longevity.

Drawing on contributions from 55 national and international experts from academic, medical, institutional, and industrial backgrounds, the report proposes a concrete roadmap to transform scientific advances in aging into public policies and large-scale preventive actions.

Nearly one-third of our lives will be lived after the age of 60. In light of this major demographic transition, the report highlights the urgent need for early action to preserve individuals’ functional capacity and prevent age-related diseases.

A Scientific Revolution Already Underway

Recent advances in geroscience — the discipline that studies the biological mechanisms of aging in order to prevent associated diseases — are paving the way for predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory medicine.

As highlighted in a study published in Nature Aging by Professor John Beard (Columbia University), people aged 70 today have an intrinsic capacity comparable to that of 60-year-olds thirty years ago. This evolution demonstrates that it is possible to age better and live longer through appropriate prevention strategies.

The report emphasizes a key point: functional decline often begins 10 to 20 years before the clinical onset of chronic diseases. It is during this silent period that preventive interventions can have the greatest impact.

ICOPE: A Concrete Solution Already Implemented by IHU HealthAge in Partnership with the WHO

The report stresses the central role of the WHO’s ICOPE (Integrated Care for Older People) program, developed and deployed in France by Toulouse-based IHU HealthAge.

Thanks to the ICOPE Monitor digital application, more than 130,000 people already benefit from regular monitoring of their intrinsic capacity across six essential dimensions: mobility, memory, vision, hearing, vitality, and mental health.

This approach makes it possible to detect early loss of intrinsic capacity and implement personalized actions to preserve autonomy and quality of life.

Five Priorities to Make Healthy Longevity a Reality

The experts involved in the report agree on five major priorities:

  • embedding prevention throughout the entire lifespan, with a systematic longevity assessment starting at age 50;
  • accelerating the nationwide deployment of the ICOPE program beyond the healthcare system;
  • integrating geroscience and aging prevention into the training of healthcare professionals;
  • increasing investment in biomarker research and clinical trials in geroscience;
  • combating ageism and ensuring equitable access to prevention.
Link to the report: Longevity Summit Report May 20, 2026 (HERE)