New report calls for immune health to become central to UK healthy ageing policy

A new report from the British Society for Immunology and the CARINA Network calls for immune health to be integrated more fully into UK policy and practice on healthy ageing, prevention, research and healthcare.

Published to coincide with the UN International Day of Older Persons, Immunity for Life: making immune health central to UK healthy ageing policy highlights how changes to the immune system across the life course can affect responses to infection and vaccination, inflammation, tissue repair and recovery from illness or treatment.

One in four people in the UK are projected to be aged 65 or over by 2050, and recent research from The Health Foundation shows that in the UK, healthy life expectancy is declining. The report argues that understanding and supporting immune health should form a more visible part of the national response to an ageing population.

Immune ageing is not uniform. People of the same chronological age can have different immune profiles and respond differently to the same infection, vaccines or treatment. These differences can reflect genetics, underlying health, previous infections and lifelong exposures, including housing, work, nutrition, stress, deprivation and access to healthcare.

The report brings together learning from the CARINA Network, funded through UKRI’s Healthy ageing across the life course initiative. CARINA has connected expertise spanning immunology, ageing, infection, vaccination, inflammation, frailty and population health with perspectives from clinicians, policymakers, industry representatives and public contributors.

Professor Janet Lord, Professor of Immune Cell Biology and member of the CARINA Network Management Group, said: “This report sets out why immune ageing should be firmly embedded in the UK’s prevention and healthy ageing agenda, and the practical steps needed to make that happen. As our population grows older, government, funders and the NHS need a better understanding of why some people experience a decline in immune health, how this is shaped by inequality, and what can be done to keep people well for longer.

‘Bringing immune health into policies on vaccination, long-term conditions, frailty and population health would help translate a rapidly developing area of science into practical action, reducing avoidable illness and supporting healthier later lives.” 

The report sets out five recommendations intended to strengthen policy ownership and coordination, build a more connected research agenda, improve the use of cohorts and biobanks, generate evidence from more representative populations, and connect research more effectively with NHS and public health needs.

Rather than calling for a standalone immune ageing strategy, it recommends embedding immune health within existing work on vaccination, prevention, frailty, long-term conditions, healthy ageing and life sciences. It also emphasises the need for consistent terminology and measures, stronger longitudinal evidence, greater diversity in research, and meaningful public involvement.

The British Society for Immunology and CARINA will use the report to engage government, funders, the NHS, industry, charities and the wider research community, while exploring how collaboration and expertise developed through CARINA can be sustained.