Five year national plan on ageing

An Action Plan for the next five years is being prepared by the National Council for Elders for protection, development and well-being of the elders of Sri Lanka by the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry.

A special meeting of the National Council was held at the Waters’ Edge headed by its chairperson and Ministry Secretary V. Jegarasasingham recently.

The Members of the National Council for the Elders, Representatives of the United Nations Population Fund, Planning Specialists from the Administrative Development Organisation, Officials from the Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare and National Secretariat for Elders, were present at this meeting.

Global statistics indicate that the population of the elders of the age group 60 and above will increase two fold from 10% to 21% for the period from 2000 to 2050. The statistics also point out that the elder population which constituted 52% of the total population in Asia and Pacific region in 2002 would shoot up to 59% in 2025.

“As this is the region which contains the highest percentage of older population in the world, our Government is called upon to take appropriate steps to deal with the emerging trends” Jegarasasingham said.

She said the “Elders Rights Act” was passed in 2000 and the implementation of the Five Year Action Plan on Ageing was not only the responsibility of the Government but also of the Local Government bodies, Provincial Councils and voluntary organisations as well.

The most significant decision arrived at the discussion was, to change the vision and objectives of the National Council for Elders and the changes so made, done in English to translate into Sinahala language.

Chairman of Legal Aid Commission and member of National Council for Elders S.S. Wijeratne said the draft Five Year National Actin Plan on Ageing, prepared the Additional Secretary to the Ministry, needs to be protected in a legal framework.

He also added that the identity cards that are being issued and all the Elders’ Homes in the country numbering more than 1000 needed to be legally established, so that due recognition would be paid to them by the society.

Chairman Sri Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation Tami Tamitegama said in 2006, there were about 100,000 to 150,000 Alzheimer’s patients and this number would increase to 400,000 to 500,000 in the year 2040, and therefore an effective programme needed to be launched to meet with the challenges concerning Alzheimer’s affecting the elderly.

It was decided to refer the proposals made at the meeting to two experts of the Planning Section of the Sri Lanka Administrative Development Organisation and then to include them in the said Five Year Plan. It was also decided to give wide publicity in the print media for obtaining ideas and proposals from the Older Community for inclusion in the Five Year Plan.

The Five Year National Action Plan was decided to be completed in 2009.