The World Health Organisation has advocated an urgent transformation of care and support for older people.
The world health governing body, in a statement on its website to commemorate the UN International Day of Older Persons 2024, is urgently calling for action to not only strengthen but transform the way countries provide care and support for older people, especially as we approach the halfway point of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030).
The Director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, Dr Anshu Banerjee, in the statement, said, “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.
“However, evidence shows that care and support systems across the world are not yet prepared to meet the needs of older people.”
“The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing underscores that a radical shift is required in how we value and deliver care to foster healthy ageing – and WHO stands ready to support countries who are committed to make this shift.”
The International Day of Older Persons is commemorated every year by the global community on 1 October to both celebrate older people’s contributions to society and highlight the challenges older people face.
The international day grows in relevance every year, as the world’s populations continue to live longer and rapidly age. 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.
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. According to WHO’s latest analyses:
People aged 60 years and above continue to experience unmet health care needs, whether they live in low-, middle-, or high-income countries.
Around 2 in 3 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.
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.
Despite these needs, there is still limited access to good quality, affordable and equitable care that supports us to make the most of our longer lives – no matter who we are, where we live, or how old we are.
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 (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. The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing has four action areas: combatting ageism, age-friendly environments, integrated care and long-term care. WHO acts as the Secretariat of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.