Vice President Expresses Concern Over Abuse And Abandonment Of The Elderly People

There is a need to strengthen the elderly community at large scale and it can happen through a societal and attitudinal change towards elderly, said M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President on Saturday while launching the book- “Health And Well Being In Late Life: Perspectives And Narratives From India” written by Dr Prasun Chatterjee, professor of Geriatric Medicine at the All India India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Naidu urged that there is a need to promote the family system, and its values right from school days and teach children the need to respect elders as Indian family system and family values as the USP of Indian civilization.

Research suggests that with demographic transition underway in India, the elderly population is projected to rise to 12 per cent of the total population by 2025.

Talking about the book, he said that the author has discussed preparedness for an aging individual as well as the society in the Indian context. Apart from highlighting the health issues like depression and dementia, Naidu said that the book provides a detailed analysis of solutions that are practicable in low resource settings.

A study proves that at least 65 percent of India’s old live in rural areas. And they are illiterate and economically dependent. In India, the elderly suffers from dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases besides impairment of special sensory functions like vision, hearing and other degenerative diseases.

Expressing anguish over abuse of elders and their abandonment, Naidu said that many elders were forced to stay in old age homes. He said that it was the bounden duty of children to take good care of their parents and grandparents.

With WHO declaring 2020 to 2030 as “Decade of Healthy Ageing”, Naidu stressed for urgent need to set up more geriatric departments in medical colleges across the country in view of the increasing population of the elderly.

“As of now six medical colleges are imparting the special skill to the doctors to cater to geriatric population. There should be more institutions like AIIMS to promote healthy ageing,” he said.

Naidu informed that National Centre for Ageing at AIIMS, a state of art 200-bedded exclusive geriatric care center, will be functional by next year. The institute will provide international standard of care along with cutting-edge research on ageing, he said.