Context: Recently, Union Health Minister launched the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020-2030), a campaign aimed at mainstreaming issues related to the elderly and for deliberating upon ways to ensure better and effective delivery of services to them.

• October 1 is celebrated as International Day of Older Persons, as declared by the United Nations, to recognise, enable and expand the contributions of older people in their families, communities and societies at large and to raise awareness towards issues of ageing.

Aim: To promote best practices for elder care and exploring effective means of strengthening the participation of older persons in various aspects of social, cultural, economic and civic and political life.
Key highlights

• Under the campaign, many activities will be undertaken throughout the year, aimed at mainstreaming issues related to elderly.
• It will deliberate upon the ways to ensure better and effective delivery of services, making full use of convergence mechanisms.
• It will bring together governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, media, and private sector for collaborative action to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live.

Additional Key Facts

• As per Census 2011, senior citizens comprise 8.57% of the total population.
• As per the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment the projected population of Senior Citizens by the year 2026 is 12.4%.

How elderly women are a vulnerable category of people?

• Elderly women in a majority of Asia-Pacific countries are facing major challenges due to a change from traditional to nuclear family-oriented patterns which are far more fluid, split structures.
• Lack of adequate support: Many older women, with a higher tendency to live alone, face poverty and are more likely to lack family and other socioeconomic support. 
• Access to a caregiver: The majority of older people do not have reliable and sustained access to a caregiver and many have slid into poverty during the pandemic.

What are the plans in place for the elderly?

• There is a need for better policies, more resilient social systems and gender equality in order to improve the lives of elderly women.
• 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing: This agreement mentions the development of evidence-based policies that help create “a society for all ages”.
• Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals underscore the basis of this approach to healthy ageing.
• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): It is committed to helping governments in full partnership with civil society and communities.
• UNFPA incorporates the need to enable and strengthen the self-reliance of older persons.

Road Ahead

• In order to transform the challenge of population ageing into an opportunity, we must collectively prioritise greater action, funding and implementation. Address the complex demographic shift of population ageing, with strategic solutions: A life cycle approach to healthy ageing, with particular emphasis on girls and women, firmly grounded in gender equality and human rights is required.