Going for gold: If immunisation were an Olympic sport, who would win?

New research by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) has found that if there were ‘an Olympics for healthy ageing’, European countries would perform strongly for immunisation.

Three of these medals would be for immunisation; one silver and two bronzes. Despite these achievements, ILC calls for more action by policymakers to improve healthy ageing by LA 2028.

As part of its Going for gold project, ILC has produced a ‘Healthy Ageing Medal Table’ that ranks countries and territories on eight different healthy ageing disciplines:

1. Jab-elin: how countries perform on coverage across five childhood immunisation programmes.
2. Archery: how countries perform on meeting WHO immunisation targets for measles (95%) and influenza (75%).
3. Prevention Triathlon: how countries perform to prevent poor diet, diabetes and tobacco use.
4. Sport climbing: how far how countries have ‘climbed’ the Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index.
5. Race walking: how countries perform on levels of physical activity.
6. Marathon: how countries perform on healthy life expectancy.
7. 100m sprint: countries with the most centenarians.
8. Relay race: how economic and political blocs perform on the Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index.

Overall, 69 countries recorded a top 10 finish across the categories; 23 of which win medals. While Europe wins five medals and has 16 top 10 finishes, it’s in the Jab-elin and archery categories where European countries perform the best.

In the Jab-elin event, Hungary picks up a bronze medal for its strong childhood immunisation coverage. Across five vaccination programmes (DTP-containing, Hib. measles-containing, pneumococcal and rubella-containing), Hungary has recorded an average uptake of 98.6% over a 10-year period (2013 to 2022).

For archery, Denmark takes silver while the UK claims bronze. Denmark reaches the WHO’s influenza target with 75% coverage in over-65s but falls just shy of the 95% measles target, at 94%. The UK achieved 81% coverage for influenza but only 87% for measles. In comparison, gold medallist South Korea – who also won gold for archery at Paris 2024 – recorded coverage figures of 80% and 95% respectively. Nevertheless, five European countries place from 4^th to 10^th: Ireland (5^th), Portugal (6^th), Spain (8^th), Norway (9^th) and the Netherlands (10^th).

While there is reason to celebrate these achievements, there’s much more that can be done to improve healthy ageing. Looking to the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, ILC is calling on policymakers and health stakeholders to:

1. Invest in health systems: governments should invest more in preventative healthcare and public health initiatives, such as immunisation programmes across the life course.
2. Inspire and engage key actors: policymakers, health leaders and citizens need to work together.
3. Democratise access to healthcare: barriers to preventative interventions need to be removed.
4. Use technology to deliver prevention: technology should support access to preventative healthcare services.  

Read the full report and find out how your country performs.