Science committee calls for better research into ageing
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《英国医生杂志》
More government funding and better coordination of research into ageing are urged in a report from the UK House of Lords. More must be done to make older people healthier and to improve their quality of life, said the select committee on science and technology in Ageing: Scientific Aspects.
"At a time when people are living longer, their last years should be years of good health and active engagement in society. Instead, older people believe their last years are increasingly a time of ill health and isolation," said Lord Sutherland, chair of the inquiry.
On spending, the report said that comparatively little is being invested by the Medical Research Council into ageing related research and virtually nothing by the Economic and Social Research Council, which the report said should urgently and substantially increase the proportion of its funding.
The report said that bodies currently responsible for the coordination of ageing related research in the United Kingdom are not doing the job and describes attempts at coordination as woefully inadequate: "The image we have is of a series of ill thought out initiatives which have long titles, short lives, vague terms of reference, little infrastructure, and no sense of purpose. A radical reorganisation is essential."
It also urged the government and the NHS to do more to combat ageism and wants the Department of Health to make sure that older people are not routinely excluded from clinical trials.
The report was welcomed by agencies involved with elderly people. "A positive response from the government is now needed to buck its trend for inadequate investment on research into ageing," said Lorna Layward, research manager for Research into Ageing.(Roger Dobson)
"At a time when people are living longer, their last years should be years of good health and active engagement in society. Instead, older people believe their last years are increasingly a time of ill health and isolation," said Lord Sutherland, chair of the inquiry.
On spending, the report said that comparatively little is being invested by the Medical Research Council into ageing related research and virtually nothing by the Economic and Social Research Council, which the report said should urgently and substantially increase the proportion of its funding.
The report said that bodies currently responsible for the coordination of ageing related research in the United Kingdom are not doing the job and describes attempts at coordination as woefully inadequate: "The image we have is of a series of ill thought out initiatives which have long titles, short lives, vague terms of reference, little infrastructure, and no sense of purpose. A radical reorganisation is essential."
It also urged the government and the NHS to do more to combat ageism and wants the Department of Health to make sure that older people are not routinely excluded from clinical trials.
The report was welcomed by agencies involved with elderly people. "A positive response from the government is now needed to buck its trend for inadequate investment on research into ageing," said Lorna Layward, research manager for Research into Ageing.(Roger Dobson)