Memorandum of Understanding – The International Parliamentary Cooperation Initiative for Healthy Ageing and Longevity

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

International Parliamentary Cooperation Initiative

for Healthy Ageing and Longevity

Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius

12 June 2026

The Parties to this Memorandum of Understanding,

Recognising that population ageing represents one of the defining demographic transformations of the twenty-first century, with profound implications for public health systems, social protection, economic productivity, and intergenerational solidarity;

Acknowledging that the global burden of age-related disease and disability imposes escalating human, social, and fiscal costs that demand a paradigm shift from reactive treatment towards proactive prevention, early intervention, and the promotion of healthy life years across the entire life course;

Noting that despite the urgency and magnitude of the ageing challenge, there remains a persistent deficit of dedicated parliamentary policy-making frameworks for the systematic promotion of healthy ageing and longevity;

Convinced that effective policy responses require international, cross-party, and cross-departmental collaboration rooted in the principle of “Health in All Policies” and informed by the best available scientific evidence;

Recalling the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), the WHO Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health, the Sustainable Development Goals, and relevant regional frameworks including the European Pillar of Social Rights;

Affirming the right to health as enshrined in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and acknowledging the emerging discourse on the right to and necessity of healthy ageing and longevity;

Agreeing that achieving long and healthy life for all people is a high humanitarian value, for the individual and for the society, without sectorial distinctions, unifying all of humanity for a common ethical goal, and therefore representing a high individual and social priority;

Have reached the following understanding:

Article 1 – Establishment and Name

1.1 The Parties hereby agree to establish the International Parliamentary Cooperation Initiative for Healthy Ageing and Longevity (hereinafter “the Initiative”).

1.2 The Initiative is inaugurated on the occasion of the International Conference “Healthy Ageing and Health in All Policies – A Strategic Choice for the State”, convened at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius, on 12 June 2026, as part of the Healthy Ageing and Longevity Assembly 2026.

Article 2 – Purpose

2.1 The Initiative shall serve as a structured, international platform through which parliamentarians, experts, and civil-society actors collaborate to develop, exchange, promote, implement, and evaluate policies and programmes for healthy ageing and longevity at the national, European, and global levels.

2.2 The Initiative shall operate on the founding principles of:

International, cross-party, and cross-departmental cooperation;
Health in All Policies as a horizontal governmental priority;
Evidence-based policy-making informed by geroscience and public-health research;
Inclusivity across the full life course, from childhood health to healthy ageing.

Article 3 – Objectives

3.1 The Initiative shall pursue the following strategic objectives:

Position health as a horizontal priority and a criterion in major policy decisions across all government departments;
Agree on practical mechanisms for Health in All Policies, including ex ante and ex post health-impact assessment of legislation;
Identify and advance priority policy areas for 2026–2035 where cross-sectoral action can deliver the greatest gains in healthy life years;
Strengthen prevention, early intervention, healthy lifestyle, biomedical research, technological development, and public education for healthy ageing and longevity as investments with measurable social, economic, and humanitarian returns;
Promote the progressive realisation of the right to and necessity of healthy ageing and longevity within national and international legal frameworks.

Article 4 – Working Tasks

The Initiative shall advance its objectives through the following working tasks:

(a) Legislative exchange: Developing, sharing, and evaluating legislative practices and model provisions across jurisdictions;

(b) Prevention policy: Strengthening prevention-oriented policies encompassing primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention across the life course;

(c) Research, development, and education: Advocating for increased public and private investment in public health improvement, geroscience, translational ageing research, health-professional training, and public health literacy;

(d) Healthy life years: Developing indicator frameworks and policy benchmarks to measure and increase healthy life expectancy;

(e) International parliamentary cooperation: Building sustained cooperative relationships between parliaments, parliamentary committees, and inter-parliamentary organisations at the European and global levels.

Article 5 – Policy Areas

The Initiative shall address the following policy areas, without limitation:

Research and innovation in healthy longevity, including healthy lifestyle promotion, geroscience, diagnostic metrics development, assistive technologies, preventive and regenerative medicine;
Data, standards, regulation, and health technology assessment to ensure that emerging interventions for healthy ageing and longevity meet rigorous evidence thresholds before adoption;
Ecosystem development and market uptake, including public-private partnerships, regulatory sandboxes, and innovative financing mechanisms for healthy longevity-oriented products and services;
Societal, economic, and policy impact assessment, including fiscal projections of healthy ageing scenarios, labour-market adaptation, healthcare and pension-system sustainability;
Education, skills, and public engagement, encompassing professional training for the longevity workforce, health literacy campaigns, and citizen participation in policy design.

Article 6 – Working Methodologies

To fulfil its tasks, the Initiative shall:

Establish collaborative working groups, task forces, committees, and subcommittees organised by objective, task, or policy area;
Share best practices across borders, including successful legislative language, committee models, institutional designs, governance approaches, and public-private partnership frameworks;
Facilitate access to technical, analytical, and scientific support from expert networks and research institutions;
Develop or adapt ready-to-use legislative proposals, policy toolkits, and model regulations;
Convene stakeholders—including researchers, industry representatives, healthcare professionals, civil-society organisations, and patient groups—around concrete legislative or institutional initiatives;
Organise regular conferences, hearings, and inter-parliamentary exchanges to maintain momentum and public visibility.

Article 7 – Membership and Participation

7.1 The Initiative shall comprise the following categories of participants:

Members of Parliaments: Current members of national or sub-national parliaments, or of the European Parliament or other inter-parliamentary bodies, who endorse this MoU;
Former Members of Parliaments: Former parliamentarians who retain an active commitment to healthy ageing and longevity policy;
Experts: Researchers, clinicians, public-health professionals, and other specialists invited to provide scientific, technical, or policy expertise;
Civil-Society Partners: Organisations, networks, and high-level public figures contributing to the Initiative’s objectives.

7.2 A Coordination Group, composed of founding signatories and such additional members as may be co-opted, in accordance with Article 10, shall be responsible for the operational management, communication, and strategic direction of the Initiative.

Article 8 – Coordination and Secretariat

8.1 The Parties shall designate a Coordinating Secretariat, to assist the Coordination Group, to support the operational activities of the Initiative, including the organisation of meetings, maintenance of records, circulation of documents, and liaison with external stakeholders.

8.2 The Coordination Group shall meet at least twice per year, in person or by videoconference, and shall report annually to all Parties on the Initiative’s activities and progress.

Article 9 – Duration, Amendment, and Termination

9.1 This MoU shall take effect on 12 June 2026 (the “Commencement Date”) and shall remain in force for an initial period of three (3) years.

9.2 This MoU shall be automatically renewed for successive periods of two (2) years unless terminated in accordance with Article 9.5.

9.3 This MoU may be amended or supplemented by mutual written agreement of a simple majority of the Parties.

9.4 Any Party may withdraw from this MoU by providing six (6) months’ advance written notice to the Coordination Group. Withdrawal by individual Parties shall not affect the continued validity of this MoU among the remaining Parties.

9.5 This MoU may be terminated in its entirety through mutual consultation of all Parties, with six (6) months’ advance written notice.

Article 10 – Accession

10.1 This MoU is open for accession by additional parties at any time during the period of its validity.

10.2 Accession shall be effected by written endorsement of this MoU and shall require the approval of a simple majority of the existing Parties.

Article 11 – Legal Nature

11.1 This MoU expresses the shared intentions of the Parties to collaborate on the promotion of healthy ageing and longevity. It does not create legally or politically binding obligations, does not establish a legal entity, and does not give rise to financial commitments unless separately agreed in writing.

11.2 Nothing in this MoU shall be construed as limiting the sovereign right of any parliament or member of parliament to act independently within their constitutional mandate.

Article 12 – Working Languages

The working language of the Initiative shall be English. Documents may additionally be produced in the official languages of the participating Parties where appropriate and feasible.

Article 13 – Depositary

The original of this MoU shall be deposited with the Coordinating Secretariat and shall be made available in electronic form to all Parties and acceding parties.

SIGNATURES

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, duly authorised, have endorsed this Memorandum of Understanding on the dates indicated below.

— Members of Parliaments —

Name: ___________________________________________________________