The average age expectancy has increased by almost five years in the last decade alone — meaning the elderly are living much longer than before. But the Government’s promise of taking care of them in their wilting years hasn’t matched up with its actions. Of the eight regional geriatric centres for the elderly promised by the Centre two years back, only two have become operational so far.
While the first regional centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi started earlier this year, the second centre at SN Medical College in Jodhpur was inaugurated only a fortnight ago. The rest of the 30-bedded centres, which were to be created within larger specialty hospitals, are far from ready.
The Union Government had announced a major overhaul in the infrastructure and healthcare solutions for the care of the elderly in India in 2011. Under the National Programme for the Healthcare of the elderly (NPHCE), the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the Ministry of Health had announced the setting up of eight regional centres with geriatric wards and manpower training at the cost of Rs 150 crore.
“We are in talks with the concerned hospitals. It is not just about building a new facility, it is more about putting together a team of specialists to look into the care of the elderly. The hospitals also have to get in place geriatric specialists before starting these units,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which deals with the needs of the elderly.
“The hospitals, all of which are teaching institutes, have been asked by the Health Ministry to introduce post-graduate courses in geriatric care to create more specialists,” he said.
Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh; Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar, Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati Medical College in Assam; Madras Medical College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra were shortlisted for the centres.
With a comparatively young population, India is still poised to become home to the second largest number of older persons in the world. Projection studies indicate that the number of 60+ in India will increase to 100 million in 2013 and to 198 million in 2030.
The special features of the elderly population in India are - a majority (80%) of them are in the rural areas, thus making service delivery a challenge, feminisation of the elderly population (51% of the elderly population would be women by the year 2016), increase in the number of the older-old (persons above 80 years) and a large percentage (30%) of the elderly are below poverty line.
Over the next four decades, India’s demographic structure is expected to shift dramatically from a young to an ageing population resulting in 316 million elderly persons by 2050.
Eldercare
The Union Government had announced a major overhaul in the infrastructure and healthcare solutions for the care of the elderly in India in 2011
With a comparatively young population, India is still poised to become home to the second largest number of older persons in the world. Projection studies indicate that the number of 60+ in India will increase to 100 million in 2013 and to 198 million in 2030
The special features of the elderly population in India are — a majority (80%) of them are in the rural areas, thus making service delivery a challenge, feminisation of the elderly population (51% of the elderly population would be women by the year 2016), increase in the number of the older-old (persons above 80 years) and a large percentage (30%) of the elderly are below poverty line