San Francisco, CA, September 28, 2023 — The Healthspan Action Coalition commemorates International Longevity Day, October 1 and Longevity Month, October, as a day of activism promoting healthy aging through a live rally and walk from San Francisco’s Ferry Building to Embarcadero Plaza. The day and month will feature rallies and events across the world to bring much-needed attention and funding to the critically important task of supporting healthy longevity.
Conceived as an extension of the United Nations’ designation in 2013 of October 1 as “The U.N. International Day of Older Persons,” the day is now simply referred to as International Longevity Day, and is the catalyst for worldwide activism aimed at increasing scientific research and economic infrastructure to extend healthy longevity. This year, rallies, marches and other events are planned in over a dozen countries, including Israel, Belgium, Germany and Spain, as well as the United States on October 1. Other events will occur throughout the month.
“There’s more reason than ever to celebrate International Longevity Day,” said Bernard Siegel, co-founder and director of the Healthspan Action Coalition. “We’re in a Renaissance period for research into extending both the lifespan and the human healthspan. We’re looking at an explosion of science-based possibilities in how to help people live not only longer, but longer in a state of health and vitality.”
After the last two years, when holding live events was problematic, International Longevity Day 2023 is gearing up with in-person events across the globe. According to the HSAC, the more people who show up for events, the more policymakers will make note of the importance of the need for a more concerted effort to promote healthy longevity across the world.
HSAC’s San Francisco rally will be led by Melissa King, the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, who invites interested members of the public to join the following schedule on Sunday, October 1:
- 10:30 – 11:00 AM PDT: Meet at Red Bay Coffee in the San Francisco Ferry Building
- 11:00 AM: The group will cross the street to Embarcadero Plaza
- 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Banner and poster displays, brief speech, and talk with the public
- 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: The group convenes at the Ferry Building for refreshments and a group chat
“Our work is just beginning,” HSAC’s Siegel said. “While exciting new avenues in science are opening on almost a daily basis, research into healthy longevity receives far less support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health than most other conditions that are amenable to medical intervention. This is short-sighted, considering that the aging process is implicated in virtually every noncommunicable illness.
“Intervention in the aging process, which the NIH this year recognized is possible, could be the foundation for successfully treating a huge array of conditions and dramatically improving quality of life for billions of people worldwide. The HSAC calls upon the NIH and all other health funding bodies across the world to make a priority of research devoted to intervening in the aging process and ensuring that the human race enjoys not just more years, but more healthy, productive years to life.”
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Media Contact:
Joseph Dawson
Director of Communications
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About Healthspan Action Coalition: HSAC is a nonprofit organization working on multiple levels to extend the global human healthspan. It unites a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the search for, development of, and delivery of new medical treatments aimed at extending not just the lifespan, but the period of life spent in good health and free of disease or disability. While recognizing that virtually all human disorders entail an acceleration of the aging process, the organization seeks to harness the latest developments in longevity research as a new avenue of disease treatment and prevention. Its mission is to create a worldwide, cross-sector, societal movement aimed at bringing together the disparate forces that have the ability to ensure that every person on the planet has the resources to live not only longer, but to remain healthy, vital and independent until the very end of life. It is led by a team of seasoned, experienced individuals and scientific pioneers with proven track records of effecting major change in the aging, science and healthcare fields.
