WUNRN
IMPORTANT HEALTH ISSUES FOR
AGEING WOMEN
Lancet Series on Ageing &
Health - http://www.thelancet.com/series/ageing
November 6, 2014 - This Series on Ageing
highlights a neglected area in the health sector and in social and
economic-policy development. The six papers address issues related to
mortality, morbidity and disability, wellbeing, and potential health-system responses.
The Series provides a much-needed synthesis of the evidence, and suggests
possible strategies to address the health and wellbeing of older adults. Scope
for improving health of older adults is underlined in the Series papers by
Martin Prince and Somnath Chatterji and their respective colleagues.
Interventions that are targeted towards older people, including health
promotion, disease prevention, and the entire range of care provision, from
primary to palliative care, hold the promise of keeping older adults in good
health for longer.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsId=49275#.VF_htHl0zIU
WHO – World Health
Organization
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/lancet-ageing-series/en/
AGEING WELL MUST BE A
GLOBAL PRIORITY - WHO
An old person posing in front of her house in Chagas,
Mexico, where long-lasting impregnated curtains were installed in order to keep
the house free of the triamatone bugs. Photo: WHO/TDR /Isaias Montilla
6 November 2014 – The United Nations health
agency warned today that as the world population aged 60 or older will jump
from some 800 million to 2 billion in the next four decades, soaring levels of
chronic illness and diminished wellbeing are poised to become a major global
public health challenge.
“By 2020, for the first time in history,
the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than
5 years,” the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said reporting
its findings in a series on health and ageing in the medical journal The
Lancet.
And “by 2050, the world’s population aged
60 years and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 841 million today,”
WHO said, noting that 80 percent of these older persons will be living in
low-income and middle-income countries.
WHO attributed the increase in longevity,
especially in high-income countries, largely to the decline in deaths from
cardiovascular disease (stroke and ischaemic heart disease), mainly because of
simple, cost-effective strategies to reduce tobacco use and high blood
pressure, and improved coverage and effectiveness of health interventions.
However, it said, “although people are
living longer, they are not necessarily healthier than before.”
“Unless health systems find effective
strategies to address the problems faced by an ageing world population, the
growing burden of chronic disease will greatly affect the quality of life of
older people,” WHO said.
“As people across the world live longer,
soaring levels of chronic illness and diminished wellbeing are poised to become
a major global public health challenge,” the health agency warned.
“Deep and fundamental reforms of health and
social care systems will be required,” said Dr. John Beard, Director of the
Department of Ageing and Life Course at the WHO, and co-leader of the Series
with Dr. Ties Boerma and Dr. Somnath Chatterji, also from WHO.
The long-term burden of illness and
diminished wellbeing affects patients, their families, health systems, and
economies, and is forecast to accelerate.
“For example, latest estimates indicate
that the number of people with dementia is expected to rise from 44 million
now, to 135 million by 2050,” according to WHO.
The responsibility for improving quality of
life for the world’s older people goes far beyond the health sector, the
doctors noted.
“Strategies are needed that better prevent
and manage chronic conditions by extending affordable health care to all older
adults and take into consideration the physical and social environment,” WHO
said.
The health agency said examples include
changing policies to encourage older adults to remain part of the workforce for
longer, emphasising low-cost disease prevention and early detection rather than
treatment, making better use of technology (and training health-care staff in
the management of multiple chronic conditions.
“Collectively, we need to look beyond the
costs commonly associated with ageing to think about the benefits that an
older, healthier, happier, and more productive older population can bring to
society as a whole,” said Dr. Chatterji from WHO’s Department of Health
Statistics and Information Systems.