The National Aging Observatory will be born in the coming months in Alte (Loulé), in a project coordinated by the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) in partnership with 14 public and private entities, which will produce scientific knowledge and seek to respond effectively to the needs of Portuguese population, with regard to aging.
This project will have the mission "to collect data, identify key areas with population dynamism and evaluate public and private policies in response to aging", explained Nuno Marques, president of ABC, during the launching ceremony, which included the presence of the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.
Speaking at the ceremony, which took place on Friday, the 19th, at Inatel, in Albufeira, Nuno Marques said that «promoting scientific knowledge in this area of aging» will be, for ABC, «a great challenge and an enormous responsibility at a level national”, but data will also be managed in several other areas such as unemployment, work, health and social action.
The National Aging Observatory will be located at the Cândido Guerreiro Professional School, in Alte, in the interior of Loulé, a decision “thought out from the beginning” also due to the fact that the village is located in an area of low population density and aging.
The project has already «timings defined”, Nuno Marques said that, by March, the Observatory “will have to be clear about what it is going to do” and, in July, “it will start operating”. The first data analysis report is expected to come out by December of next year.
Nuno Marques also stated that the statistical data, after being processed, will be important in the effective response to the needs of the population, having been «committed to giving concrete values on aging to the municipalities, so that they can act in this area at a level local", so he warned: "we have a lot of work to do in national and regional terms".
For her part, Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, stressed that the Observatory will “identify the needs from the point of view of social responses, through teams to monitor and combat isolation, to mobilize the various instruments which we currently have at our disposal'.
Given the resources that are available, «in an unprecedented way, the great challenge is to find disruptive and innovative solutions that respond effectively to people's expectations», added the minister.
"Portugal will be able to have reliable, scientific instruments [on aging], which will allow it to have indicators to act effectively and respond to the real needs of people, promoting active and healthy aging."
The minister also announced that "a notice dedicated to responses to aging will be launched this Monday, with a global value of 220 million euros", adding that it is essential "to ensure that this allocation of resources that we are making has the ability to respond and accelerate the necessary structural responses'.
"We need to make significant leaps in our responses and in the way we look at aging," said Ana Mendes Godinho.
José Apolinário, president of CCDR Algarve, pointed out that this Observatory is an important step, not only for the country, but also to provide better responses to the Algarve population in this area, since «the aging index in the Algarve of 149,2 elderly per 100 young people, in 2020, is high", which "conditions the dynamics of population renewal and the labor market in the region".
Research centers from various public, private and civil society institutions in the area of active and healthy aging are part of the 14 entities that are part of the project, which will create national and international partnerships in order to develop the work of this Observatory.
Three academic centers participate – the University of Algarve, through the Algarve Active Ageing, the Nova Medical School, through the Lisbon AHA, and the University of Porto, through Porto4Ageing – which are connected to the RePEnSA network – Portuguese Network for Healthy and Active Aging.
The Observatory also comprises the AICIB – Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation, Algardata, Loulé City Council, Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), Daylife, Fidelidade, Inatel Foundation, Vasco Vieira de Almeida Foundation, Garvetour, Laborial and the Santa Casa de Misericórdia in Lisbon.
All these entities ensure that «there is teamwork», since, as Nuno Marques pointed out, «if we are not together, we will not reach our goal».
Photos: Rúben Bento | Sul Informação
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