NYAM President to Address International Conference on Urban Health

New York City ??? October 7, Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, President of NYAM, will be the keynote speaker at the 7th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) opening ceremony. Her address on the Age Friendly NYC initiative—the first of its kind—will include remarks on using a multisectoral approach, based on the voice of older New Yorkers. The conference, held in Vancouver, Canada, will run from October 29 through October 31. This year’s theme, Knowledge Integration: Successful Interventions in Urban Health, places a spotlight on action-oriented programs.

The newly released NYAM Age Friendly NYC findings report documents exactly what older New Yorkers want and need in order to maintain their quality of life. The report is now being used by key representatives from business and labor, academia and research, health and social services,

NYAM President Jo Ivey Boufford is the keynote speaker at the 7th International Conference on Urban Health held in Vancouver, Canada.

civil society, and government. Over the next few months these representatives will convene working groups that will formulate an agenda in response to the needs of older New Yorkers. This fall, Mayor Bloomberg will announce a set of recommendations and commitments for making NYC more age friendly. This is a high priority for the City, as its population over age 65 is expected to increase by 45 percent between 2010 and 2030.

NYAM’s initiative is part of the World Health Organization Global Age-Friendly Cities project. More than 35 cities have participated, including Istanbul, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, and Tokyo. NYAM brought this effort to New York in 2007 with support from the New York City Council and the Office of the Mayor.

NYAM’s research, though based in New York, has national and international significance. Our global work is seen through the NYAM established International Society of Urban Health ( http://www.isuh.org/ ), an association of researchers, scholars and health professionals from various disciplines in 34 countries around the world who study the health effects of urban environments and the urbanization processes.

Several NYAM studies will also be presented at the conference. Please visit http://www.icuh2008.com/program.htm for more information.

NYAM is proud to be sharing information that continues to stimulate a larger international conversation and help improve urban health.

The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) has been advancing the health of people in cities since 1847. An independent organization, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world’s urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, education, community engagement and innovative research. Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are to create environments in cities that support healthy aging; to strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public’s health; and to implement interventions that eliminate health disparities.

Posted on October 16, 2008

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Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org

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