More emphasis on geriatric care needed: Expert

Though India currently has a young population, the scene may change dramatically within a decade and the government and the medical community needs to have support systems to cope with the increase in aged population. This was the view expressed by medical experts at the International Conference of Healthy Ageing, held in the city on Saturday.

Dr VP Rao, scientific advisor, BioGenesis Euro Health Cluster and the convener of the event, said, “Currently India does have a relatively young population, but by 2020 there will be 360 million people above the age of 60, which would constitute 7.7% of our total population. By 2061 over 700 million will be above 60. Now we don’t have geriatric nursing in India the way it is available in certain Western countries like the US. India is facing a real problem here.”

The conference was organised to get experts to brainstorm on medical and legal ways to take care of aged population.

Rao felt that the ageing population will be vulnerable to several diseases and seemed pessimistic about addressing them. “We do not have the kind of machinery that exists in foreign countries. There are plenty of diseases associated with ageing and we need to see how best we can tackle them right here. We are talking about diseases such as arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and various kinds of dementia. There is a decrease in brain function and some of the leading diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s should also be addressed,” he added. Hence, he felt it was vital to have a good presence of geriatric units in the country.

Rao also felt that the government should also put a strong focus on bringing geriatric education in India. “I have personally spoken to the planning commission about two weeks ago and they have themselves voiced that something should be done and I am confident that it will be reflected upon in the next budget,” he said.