Professor Harper founded Oxford University’s Institute of Population Ageing which researches the implications of changing populations and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and has worked on population ageing for more than 30 years.
Professor Sarah Harper said: 'I am honoured to have been appointed as the Chair of the HelpAge Board and look forward to continuing our valuable relationship. HelpAge International is at a new juncture of its work. With over one billion older adults across the globe, most of them in Asia and Africa, I am looking forward to supporting HelpAge’s commitment to ensuring a world in which all older people can lead dignified, healthy and secure lives, contributing to their families, communities and societies, and have the support they need should they become frail and dependent.
'People worldwide are living longer. Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the number and percentage of older people in their population. Indeed, for the first time, older people outnumber young children, and by the middle of the century one fifth of the entire world's population will be over 60. And the majority of older adults live in low- and middle-income countries. The voice and contribution of older people is as important as the voice and contribution of any other age.'