Elderly let down by poor health care

The world's approach to health care for the elderly needs a fundamental overhaul especially in developing countries, according to experts.

A meeting of the UN World Assemby on Ageing in Madrid this week will hear that health care services need to be improved and made more accessible.

Delegates will look at the key challenges posed by ageing populations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and eastern and central Europe.

"Just because health services are under pressure doesn't mean the elderly should lose out"

Mark Gorman, HelpAge International

These include issues such as health, poverty, violence and discrimination.

It is hoped by the end of the week they will formulate a document to shape national policy on ageing across the globe.

The charity HelpAge International will use the assembly to launch a report entitled State of the world's older people 2002.

The issues highlighted in the report include findings that:

• most older people in the developing world live in chronic poverty - more than 250 million older people are living on less than Ј1.20 a day
• public services such as health care, HIV/Aids programmes and social security discriminate against older people
• at national and international level, governments and aid donors ignore older people's contributions and fail to provide adequate resources to meet their needs

In developing countries, lifetime exposure to health problems means many people enter old age already in poor health, the report suggests.

Barriers to good health include lack of access to health care and its cost.

Treatment is often unaffordable for older people even when it is nominally free.

This is because hospitals are concentrated in towns, far from the rural areas where the majority of older people live and public transport is unaffordable.

The negative attitudes of health staff towards older people discourage them from seeking treatment.

The report says this is evident both in routine care and in the neglect of older people's medical and nutritional needs in humanitarian emergencies.

'Positive discrimination'
HelpAge International's head of policy Mark Gorman said: "The political will is fundamental, and whether international agencies and governments are interested in maintaining health services.

"Even where there is private provision, it should be underpinned by a decent public health service.

"Health services should not be age exclusive. Everyone has a right to good health and that should be carried through to older people.