Geriatrics or geriatric medicine is a specialty that focuses on the health of elderly people and the UN has designated June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD).
The day aims to focus global attention on the problem of physical, emotional and financial abuse of elders.
11 Nigerian Universities has commenced arrangements for post graduates study in geriatric medicine.
Dr Emem Omokaro, a leading scholar on ageing studies development at the NUC, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
Omokaro, also an Executive Director at the Dave Omokaro Foundation (DOF), said modalities for the development of curriculum for post graduate study in universities had already reached advanced stage.
Though she did not disclose the institutions involved, Omokaro said the programme was being executed in collaboration with the DOF, supported by other stakeholders.
The director called for review of the approach to care and support for the aged in Nigeria and in developing countries around the world.
She said the false impression in many quarters was that ageing was not a development problem, stressing that the mindset should be changed for the problem to be addressed effectively.
``There has to be a course of action that is geared toward changing both the mindset and the existing framework.
``There is actually nothing in place for our elderly; we want to start something that is complete, care for the aged must be taken as a national policy that must be addressed squarely.’’
She identified neglect as the major challenge faced by the elderly in Nigeria, adding that health care, transportation and access to other social services were other challenges.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) data suggests that four to six per cent of the elderly suffer from some form of abuse.
Estimates indicate that by 2050, the global population of people above the age of 60 will exceed the number of younger people.
In Nigeria, the 2006 population census indicates that there will be 3.8 million males and 3 million females aged between 60 years and above
No comments:
Post a Comment