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Ageing and developing countries: making older people visible

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Date published: 
Thursday, October 7, 2010
News source: 
CARDI-Nicola Donnelly
Region: 
Republic of Ireland
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Ageing in developing countries is an issue receiving increasing attention in recent times as evidenced by a major new report by the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Network with Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health (INDEPTH) (you can access the report at the following link Ageing in Developing Countries). It was also the subject of an Age Action Ireland conference last week (Oct 1st, 2010) to mark UN International Day of Older Persons. Nicola Donnelly, CARDI Communications Officer reports:

The world's population is ageing and by 2045 the number of people aged over 60 will be greater than those under-14, a United Nations expert on ageing told the delegates. Dr John Beard, Director, Dept of Ageing and Life Course, WHO, said that ageing populations are not just a concern for developed countries they are particularly challenging for the developing world, where two-thirds of the world’s older people live.
From "burden to boom"
Dr Beard argued for a radical mind shift when approaching the issue of global ageing saying that too much emphasis is placed on increasing dependency levels based on the core assumption that once an individual is over 65 they become a burden.
“But there is increasing evidence that these assumptions are wrong,” he said. “If older people can remain healthy and if they live in a social and physical environment that allows them to remain engaged in society, there is no reason that they cannot continue to make a positive contribution to society until they are quite old.”
Dr Beard said that countries must seize the current “window of opportunity” to address the needs of future ageing populations and start recognising the great contribution older people can make to our societies.
Making older people visible in development policy and practice
HelpAge International chief executive Richard Blewitt highlighted the issue of ageing in the developing world, one which he said is often overlooked by the development community. Mr Blewitt described how many older people in developing countries are engaged in hard manual work and often work until they die in poor conditions. He underlined the need to develop social pension schemes as an important step in improving the plight of older people in the developing world.
 He also pointed to the vital role older people play in many developing countries. “In many African countries, older people are the main carer’s of more than 40% of people living with HIV and AIDS,” he noted.
Mr Blewitt said that many aid and development agencies simply do not factor in older people as a key target for their programmes and argued for a rethink in this policy.
The conference also heard from HelpAge International’s Caribbean regional representative Jeffrey James who outlined ageing issues in the Caribbean which he said has the fastest growing population of older people in the developing world. He identified income security, health, HIV/AIDS and social care, housing and safety and security as pressing issues for older people there.
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