Brussels, 05/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The commissioner responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, has given “star ratings” to 32 cities and regions of Europe for having set in place new ways of helping older people. The award-winners are authorities in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which have set in place technical, social or structural solutions to enhance the efficiency of health and social care systems. Thirteen reference sites have received three stars, twelve others have received two stars, and seven more have received one star. “Everyone wants to be independent as they age, and everyone in Europe should have an equal chance at that. By rewarding the most successful ideas we can spread them and give ever older persons that opportunity”, said Kroes. Tonio Borg, Health Commissioner, took the view that: “It is important that such cases of how innovation is already being used to help our older citizens live healthy and active lives serve as an inspiration to us all. Large scale deployment of such solutions is the next step”. The European Commission launched its first European innovation partnership for active and healthy ageing in December 2011. This was mainly aimed at increasing healthy life expectancy in Europe by two years by 2020. (IL/transl.jl)