Four bodies to promote health care for the elderly
Two ministries, a Danish organisation and its local partner have come together to work towards health care for the elderly.
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To this end, a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP); the Ministry of Health (MoH); AARHUS Social Health Care College, Denmark and Akrowa Aged-Life Foundation, a partner of AARHUS in Ghana.
Under the agreement signed in Accra on Friday the capacity needs of policy makers in the area of aging will also be addressed.
A Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr Alexander John Ackon, and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health, Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, signed for their various ministries, while Mr Neil Vestergaard, International Senior Manager, AARHUS Social and Health Care College, Denmark and Mr Charles Agyei-Amoama, Chairman of Akrowa Aged-Life Foundation, signed for their respective organisations.
Aging in Ghana
The Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr Ackon, said the population of the elderly in Ghana had increased more than seven-fold since the 1960 Census.
However, he said, the country had only one practising geriatrician; a situation which needed to be addressed.
According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, persons aged 60 years and above were 1,643,381 ; representing 6.7 per cent of the population.
For that reason, Mr Ackon said, a neglect of the aged in the country would mean a neglect of more than six per cent of the population.
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The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bampoe, said care for the elderly was an issue that the country needed to pay particular attention to.
The Director of Policy Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at the MoH, Dr Afisah Zakaria, assured of the ministry’s readiness to ensure that aging issues were adequately addressed in the country.
Calls for more support
The Executive Director of HelpAge Ghana, Mr Ebenezer Adjetey-Sorsey, and a representative from the Ghana Trades Union Congress, Mr Seth Abloso, both commended the steps being taken to address aging issues in the country.
They, however, called for more to be done to support the aged in the country.
Mr Vestergaard, for his part, expressed the hope that the signing of the MoU would be the first step towards transforming care for the aged in the country.
The Chairman of Akrowa Aged-Life Foundation, Mr Amoama, called for more homes for the aged to be established across the country.
Writer's email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh