NEW DELHI: People aged 60 years and above continue to experience unmet health care needs, whether they live in low, middle, or high-income countries, said the WHO on Tuesday.On the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said around two in three people who reach older age are likely to require longer-term support and care from others to perform activities of daily living, such as eating, moving around, or bathing.The world health body urgently called for action to not only strengthen but transform the way countries provide care and support for older people, especially as the halfway point of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030) is approaching.By 2030, it is projected that 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. Furthermore, 80% of older people will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2050, making healthy ageing a truly global priority.“We all require support to care for ourselves at some point in our lives, but we are more likely to require care the longer we live,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing. “However, evidence shows that care and support systems across the world are not yet prepared to meet the needs of older people.”Ageist stereotypes that incorrectly assume poor health is natural and unavoidable in later life prevent many older people from receiving the care they need. These stereotypes are commonly held by both care professionals and older people themselves, the WHO said.The International Day of Older Persons is commemorated every year by the global community on October 1 to both celebrate older people’s contributions to society and highlight the challenges older people face. This year’s theme is “Ageing with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide.”This theme underscores the critical role played by countries in providing health and long-term care services in maintaining the health and well-being that older people need to be and do what they value, WHO said.According to the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing progress report, 2021–2023: Only around 1 in 4 reporting countries have enough financial and political resources to implement integrated care responsive to older people’s needs, and only 1 in 3 have the same for long-term care.Only 16% of low-income countries, which heavily rely on unpaid informal care, have a training programme for informal caregivers of older people.Less than 60% of reporting countries include long-term care in their national competency framework for geriatric care workers.The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing calls on countries to not only strengthen but transform the way we provide care and support by delivering person-centred, integrated care responsive to older people’s needs, and ensuring access to long-term care for those who need it.To do so, WHO recommends countries provide an integrated continuum of care, which is person-centred, appropriate, affordable, and accessible, focusing above all on supporting every person to meet their needs and preferences and fulfil their goals.The WHO also said that there is a need for integrating health services across disciplines and specialities to guarantee every person receives the full range of health care they need without getting lost between separate services and programmes.Ensuring every person has seamless access to both short- and long-term care across clinical settings, care facilities, their local communities, and their homes; cares for the carers, valuing their contributions, providing adequate support, and ensuring equity, including for informal caregivers such as family carers, who are disproportionately women; and holds national governments accountable for providing care, in close collaboration with local governments, civil society organizations or the private sector, as appropriate. The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030) is a global collaboration called for by the member states of WHO and the UN to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live. It has four action areas: combating ageism, age-friendly environments, integrated care and long-term care.
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