International initiatives on bridging knowledge, policy and practice

The principal driver for the growing awareness of the need for international initiatives on bridging knowledge, policy and practices in ageing and disability, and thus the inspiration for the Toronto Declaration [1], is neither political nor professional. It is a matter of hard facts that are not in dispute: the world’s population is ageing, the trajectory of ageing is not consistent across countries, but displays clear social and economic gradients, and ageing is inexorably a matter of acquiring more disability. In 2010, an estimated 524 million people were aged 65 or older, or 8% of the world’s population, and by 2050, this number will triple to 1.5 billion, or 16% of the world’s population [2]. In this time period, the number of older people in low resource countries is expected to increase more than 250%, while in high resource countries it will increase by 71% [2].