It’s time to harness the power of connection for our health and well-being

Today marks a milestone moment; positioning social connection as a global public health priority. The launch of the WHO Commission on Social Connection signals the start of a three-year global effort to mobilize awareness, action and much-needed support for the solutions to tackle social isolation and loneliness.

Surrounded by friends, family, colleagues and a community, I feel fortunate to have a support system. But far too many people have far too few strong social connections; and they – and their health – suffer as a result.

The teenager connected to social media but feeling disconnected from society, the young mother struggling to find her place amongst her peers, the worker with disability inhibited by inaccessibility, the grandfather feeling alone after the death of his partner. Social isolation and loneliness can affect anyone, anywhere.

Three drivers have encouraged the WHO to step-up our action and ambition on social connection; the scale of the issue, the severity of its impact and the existence of promising solutions. Our recent, and shared, experience of the COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrated how crucial connection is, and how destabilizing it can be to be isolated.

Across the life-course and across all regions, social isolation and loneliness is widespread. The perception that this is a ‘soft’ issue, only affecting a small subset of older people in high income countries, is a fallacy. Younger and older people are affected; studies suggest that 25% of older people and between 5-15% of adolescents worldwide experience social isolation and loneliness, at similar rates across all regions.

And the consequences are shocking; lack of social connection has a serious impact on physical and mental health, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, anxiety and suicide. People who lack social connection have a 30% higher risk of early death, comparable to much better recognized risks such as smoking, excessive drinking or obesity.

There is power in connection. In recent years there has been an explosion of interventions – from personal through to societal level – that seek to reduce social isolation and loneliness. From individual therapies and community-based ‘befriending’ services to online skills training and government policy making, social connection is generating increasing attention.

We know social isolation and loneliness is a significant issue, we know it has serious health implications, but as a global community what we don’t know is how best to address it, what really works? The WHO Commission on Social Connection has been established to answer that question; to identify the effective solutions on social connection and to marshal the policy and funding to see these solutions taken to scale.

Co-chaired by Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General, and Chido Mpemba, African Union Youth Envoy, with 9 prominent policy-makers, thought-leaders and advocates as fellow Commissioners, I am optimistic and excited about what the Commission can achieve. Ultimately, reducing social isolation and loneliness is a job for us all, so over the coming three years the Commission will work hard to ensure that partners, innovators, funders and, crucially, people with lived experience of social isolation and loneliness, can contribute.

The scale and severity of social isolation and loneliness are a challenge, but they are also an opportunity. A chance to reimagine and redefine how we connect with those around us. I hope the Commission will be a catalyst for this shift; healthier lives, stronger relationships and more resilient communities.