JCIE’s team working on Healthy and Active Aging in Asia attended the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2026 (PMAC 2026), which had as its theme “Navigating Global Demographic Transition through Innovative Policy: An Equity-Centered Approach.” Given the relevance of this theme, JCIE co-hosted several side meetings and events with key partners, including the Economic Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the ASEAN Center for Active Ageing and Innovation (ACAI), the National Health Commission Office (NHCO), Thailand, and others. You can learn more about these events below.

The conference coincided with the launch of the 5th round of applications for the Healthy Aging Prize for Asian Innovation (HAPI), with JCIE holding a launch event for the prize to spread the word among practitioners and experts on aging in the region. Several past HAPI winners were also featured throughout the conference during special events and several of the parallel sessions, providing practical examples of how to address the challenges and opportunities presented by demographic transition.

Finally, JCIE Senior Fellow and former Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan, Keizo Takemi, attended the conference, where he spoke at the plenary session on “Navigating Global Demographic Transitions in a Time of Geopolitical Upheaval” and at the PMAC 2026 Special Session on “The Future of Global Health Governance in a Fragmented World,” which was designed to address the significant changes that took place in global health architecture in 2025.