San Francisco, CA and West Palm Beach, FL, December 13, 2023 – The nonprofit Healthspan Action Coalition (HSAC), in its first year of operations, has already assembled 120 organizations under the banner of “Healthspan.” This societal movement recognizes that with new science aided by the convergence of new technologies, a healthy lifespan should be available for all populations, regardless of ethnicity and economic status.
This proposition is buoyed by the World Health Organization, which in 2022 provided an ICD code recognizing that aging is a treatable medical condition. To fuel innovation and research initiatives, the recently announced XPRIZE Healthspan is offering an unprecedented $101 million to the research team that can extend the healthspan by 10-20 years, and the Dublin Longevity Declaration has galvanized the field of aging research with a powerful emphasis on healthy aging–otherwise known as healthspan.
“It’s time for healthspan to be recognized as a fundamental human right, thereby assuring that discoveries in healthy longevity will be delivered to all populations, sooner rather than later,” said Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Healthspan Action Coalition.
HSAC presents a bold action plan by activating a global public awareness campaign, patient advocacy movement and expert-driven innovative policy initiatives encompassing the acceleration and adoption across the spectrum of new technologies, including cellular reprogramming, gene editing, AI, tissue engineering, robotics, and more.
HSAC was founded by a team of seasoned patient advocates, including Bernard Siegel (who is also executive director of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation and founder and co-chair of the annual World Stem Cell Summit, which recently celebrated its 20th annual meeting with a focus on healthspan); Melissa King (the initial executive director at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and head of field operations for the successful CIRM-funded $5.5 billion Prop 14 ballot campaign); and Sabrina Cohen (a noted SCI and stem cell research advocate).
“To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, ‘with public appreciation you can accomplish anything; without it, nothing can get done.’ HSAC is not just another collection of cause-related organizations,” said Siegel. “It represents a broad spectrum of thought leaders who are uniting with frontline advocates dedicated to the alleviation of vast human suffering in adults and children facing a host of afflictions and diseases associated with accelerated aging. This is a characteristic of nearly all diseases, regardless of age of onset; the aging process is the number one risk factor for disease and death. We support the swift adoption and deployment of the latest technologies, effectively removing unnecessary roadblocks, while at the same time respecting safe and ethically responsible norms. HSAC maintains the assets to accomplish these goals.”
“Much like a group of us observed and then worked to address back in the early 2000’s with stem cells, the healthspan and longevity field is one that needs to be elevated and better understood by the public,” said King. “It also needs support in light of policy influences and the unfortunate fact that not all claims to increase longevity are legitimate. But there are exciting developments in bona fide longevity and healthspan research, and true progress is within reach.”
HSAC welcomes like-minded organizations and support. To learn more about our activities, receive our newsletter or join the coalition, visit www.healthspanaction.org.
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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. Together we’re assembling world-class advisory boards in the areas of science, policy, ethics and human rights. We communicate across social media channels, publish The Healthspan Compass newsletter and are creating novel opportunities for cross-connection, networking and mutual support across the stakeholder organizations and constituencies that have joined the Coalition. HSAC is moving the field forward by educating the public, providing a voice for all stakeholders, analyzing and suggesting policy initiatives to advance funding, removing roadblocks and providing the impetus to make healthspan a global policy. Our goal is healthspan for all!
Media Contact:
Joseph Dawson
Director of Communications
joseph@healthspanaction.org