PRESS
RELEASE
The ICPD+5 review
process
Political
Prioritization, Redistributive Economy Needed to Stem Slide in Older
Persons' Living Standards, Experts' Meeting
Told
BRUSSELS, 7 October 1998 -- Global recession has
caused sharp declines in the living standards of elderly people and
heightened inequality based on wealth, age and gender, experts on
ageing were told today. To redress this inequality, political
priority must be given to meeting the needs of the old and a
commitment made to a redistributive economy, according to speakers
on day two of the Technical
Meeting on Population Ageing.
The 6-9 October meeting was organized by the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) in cooperation with the Population and
Family Study Centre (CBGS), a Flemish scientific institute in
Brussels. Participants are reviewing the experiences and population
policies of developed countries to identify lessons and best
practices that can be adopted by their developing counterparts. The
meeting will also appraise the implementation of the Programme of
Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) and identify key actions to meet older persons’
needs, with a special focus on gender and poverty dimensions.
Speaking on older persons’ special needs, Kasturi Sen, a senior
community medicine scientist at the University of Cambridge, told
fellow experts that the drop in standards is being reinforced in
developing countries by structural adjustment policies and the
rising tide of privatization. Privatization has extended to the
health and social services, and there are growing pressures to
privatize pensions previously managed by the public sector.
"While these policies have affected vulnerable groups
disproportionately throughout the world," Ms. Sen said, "they have
had very serious consequences for groups such as pregnant women and
elderly people in developing countries, owing to the complete
absence of safety nets, such as pensions or social security coverage
for the majority in the poorest regions."
Health care reforms promoted by major donors, including the
introduction of user charges and market-led initiatives, have eroded
public services, she asserted. Such policies have made older persons
more dependent on their relatives. Public support for vulnerable
groups must be retained.
Evidence from developing nations in many parts of the world
suggests that the revenues collected as fees are too little and the
cost of collection too high to justify the new policies, Ms. Sen
said. As an alternative, policy makers should consider introducing
credit schemes and small-scale, community-based health promotion
projects to address the needs of the elderly. As examples, she cited
the provision of sheltered housing and day services providing meals
and help with shopping and cleaning.
Donald Adamchak of Kansas State University’s Department of
Sociology called on governments, international organizations and
donor agencies to develop indigenous programmes that directly help
the elderly poor, focusing on income and food security and health
services. Access to clinics should be increased and medical staff
better trained in geriatric medicine.
Small business loans should be available to both rural and urban
elderly, he said. Families should be helped to maintain their
support for older persons. Governments or non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) should provide food banks and small salaries
for those who coordinate village or community programmes of support
for the elderly. Group living arrangements for single elderly could
be encouraged, he suggested, with grants of small parcels of land to
raise vegetables for sale, and with the help of volunteers.
Wednesday’s meeting also heard presentations of papers: on
improving the quality of life for the elderly, by Penelope Coombes
of Australia; on the changing role of the family and community in
supporting the elderly, by Emily Grundy of the United Kingdom; and
on a society for all ages -- options for the elderly, by Rosemary
Lane of the Social Development Division of the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. In her paper, based on
Australia, Ms. Coombes identified key factors that contribute to the
quality of life of older persons. They include safety and security,
economic vitality, access to good housing, community networks,
user-friendly transport systems, clean air and water, and noise
reduction.
Nikolai Botev of the Economic Commission for Europe spoke about
older persons in countries with economies in transition. States in
Central and Eastern Europe generally have a smaller proportion of
aged people than the rest of the continent. Elderly populations are
also skewed, with more than four women for each man at some ages.
Life expectancy has dropped in some of these countries and living
standards are far below those in other parts of Europe and North
America.
Many of the region’s countries have gone through shock, but
without any therapy, said Vladislav Bezrukov of the Institute of
Gerontology in Kiev, Ukraine. He said the elderly are living without
many of the services they need. Dramatic changes have been recorded
in the Russian Federation. "Fertility is decreasing and mortality is
increasing," he said.
Privatization and other new economic measures have been
especially hard on the elderly, who are unable to take part in these
changes, Mr. Bezrukov continued. Prices of food and other essential
items are growing much faster than pensions, he noted.
Following their discussions on presented papers, participants
went into three working groups on the following themes: demography,
research and training; health care and services for the elderly; and
economic and social security policy. After their separate meetings,
the groups are due to hold a plenary on 9 October to consider their
respective recommendations.
The current meeting is being held a week after this year's
International Day of Older Persons, during which the United Nations
declared 1999 the International Year of Older Persons. Ageing also
is one of the main themes of UNFPA's flagship publication, The State of
World Population 1998, entitled "The New
Generations".
(For information purposes only. Not
an official document.)
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