European countries need to invest more time and money in the prevention of diseases and instil a culture that promotes healthier lifestyles, according to European Health Commissioner John Dalli.

This would translate into an investment in future generations as it will promote healthy ageing, he said as he delivered the closing speech during a conference on healthy ageing.

Over the past 50 years people’s life expectancy had increased by eight years and it was predicted to rise by a further five years in the next half-century, he said.

But while the ageing population was on the increase, the workforce was dropping. In the future there will be fewer healthcare professionals to deal with the elderly in homes, he said.

The solution was to promote healthier lifestyles to ensure that by the time people became elderly they remained healthy and active. More had to be invested into this.

This, in turn, presented an opportunity as it meant old people could continue working and contributing to society. Mr Dalli spoke at the fourth conference of the European Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing, which started on Thursday. Around 150 delegates from 20 different countries participated in the event held at Le Meridien Hotel in St Julian’s and hosted by Caremalta Ltd.

The conference discussed the latest developments in the area of active ageing, particularly better ways to connect and support care and service providers and to improve the quality of life for older persons.