VOL. 65, NO. 2 Mars – March 2006 - AAFI-AFICS, Geneva - UNOG

An opportunity that must not be missed – 20 extra years of lifeThe problem is simple. Thanks to medical progress, we are going to live a very long time. The statistics saythat we will live up to 80-90 years of age. This is not a very good estimate since every four years we gain anextra year. Just think of it. In 1950 there were 200 people in France who were over 100 years of age; therewill be 750,000 in 2050. The newborn baby smiling at you today will live to see 2100!Is this a gift? Not necessarily. This extraordinary longevity, hitherto unknown, is already creating enormousproblems. Our society, despite innumerable warnings, has been incapable of preparing the landslide that isgoing to prolong our lives by 20 to 30 years.What can be done? We must adapt ourselves so as not to waste the extra time we are given. We mustremain young in both mind and body. Young, in other words active, in good health, curious, integrated in life.Young! It is a civic duty.It won’t be easy. We will have to change our habits and our way of thinking, accept other lifestyles. Toreflect on the place and practice of medicine in our society. But think of the benefits. Twenty years of love, ofpleasure, of activity. Twenty years of discovery, passion, reading, music. Twenty extra years of life.Utopia? No, we’re already there. In France, 90% of both men and women declare they are fully enjoyingtheir lives at an age when their parents were already dead and buried. At 77 Jeanne Moreau still moves anaudience; at 92, Christine Desroches-Noblecourt, the Egyptologist, is still writing books. It isn’t old age thatis retreating; it is youth that is advancing. These twenty extra years of life are an opportunity that must notbe missed.A chance, however, that must be deserved. The experts say that good health has to be prepared early in lifeand constantly maintained. To discover the snares of ageing and learn the recipes for remaining in goodhealth, we interviewed the most eminent scientists. They brought us up to date on scientific progress. Wehave also investigated modern methods for remaining bright and beautiful because the pleasures of the bodyand the spirit are the best way of increasing our life expectancy.Colette wrote: the problem is that when we get old, we stay young! Does it mean that in a distant futurestaying young will become boring? Not if we learn to give a meaning to this longer life so as to win the gameof longevity.Josette Alia © 2006by courtesy ofLe Nouvel ObservateurWhat does Yolaine Nouguier think ?(President, Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members)Sporty, energetic, Yolaine Nouguier left her professional post in UNESCO more than … twenty-five yearsago but she still wears her badge round her neck! Nostalgic? Absolutely not. Yolaine is merely hyperactive.Super-busy retiree … a category that should be invented for her and others like her by the statisticians. Forthe last two years, Yolaine has been President of the UNESCO Association of Former Staff Members. Thisis far from being a mere honorary title. Three times a week she helps and assists former colleagues both inFrance and elsewhere with administrative problems, a task that is very interesting but that can be taxing.She has also had to become computer-literateShe lives in a village in the Essonne, some 75 km from Paris and admits that commuting is a little tiring,which does not stop her from taking part once a week in a theatre workshop with other colleagues. Are theyall retirees? Luckily no! Otherwise it would be difficult to find players for juvenile leading roles. Last yearthey produced “Le Silence” by Nathalie Sarraute. Other weekly activities include aqua gym which she haspractised for the last eight years, and solving crosswords. It sometimes takes her a whole week to finishthose of Jacques Drillon (in the Nouvel Observateur). Every day she watches television, reads thenewspapers and books (she loves anything to do with history – especially ancient Egypt), gardening,cuddling her three cats, lunching with friends - she is torn between her village and Paris: her friends in the25