Longevity India Initiative

About Longevity India Initiative

• It is a project focused on efforts to extend human ‘health span’ and tackle ageing-related challenges.
• The initiative has also started a large-scale clinical study that will involve researchers from multiple IISc departments, clinicians, industry, philanthropists and civil society.
• This initiative seeks to enhance the understanding of ageing through both fundamental and applied research, and to develop solutions that can improve quality of life.
• It will leverage advanced research to develop interventions that can help manage age-related diseases more effectively, with an emphasis on promoting healthy ageing across India.
• Funding: The initiative has received initial grant funding support from Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel India.
• Significance
  • India’s elderly population projected to surge to 347 million by 2050, it is imperative that there is a need to leverage technology to provide accessible geriatric healthcare, nurture the silver economy and invest in digital systems that support ageing populations.

Q1: What is the Demographic dividend?

It refers to a period in a country’s demographic transition when the proportion of the working-age population (typically ages 15 to 64) is larger than the dependent population (young children and elderly).

Source: IISc Launches ‘Longevity India Initiative’ to Pioneer Ageing Research in India