No to Ageism, Yes to Intergenerational Equality

Srinivas Tata, is Director, Social Development Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)   Eduardo Klien, is Regional Director, Asia, HelpAge InternationalBy Srinivas Tata and Eduardo KlienBANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 1 2019 (IPS) As we are celebrating the International Day of Older Persons today, we recognize that population ageing is a human success story, a story of longer and often healthier lives of the world’s people. The many faces of older persons that we see in Asia and in the Pacific, and, indeed, all over the world, attest to this fact. Still, however, ageing is considered a threat. There is talk about the “burden of ageing”, exploding healthcare costs, and concerns about plummeting economic growth due to the shrinking labour force. In many cities of Asia-Pacific, we see advertisement for “anti-ageing cosmetics” and surgeries. The current ideal is that we must be young, dynamic and without wrinkles or grey hair, especially older women. Srinivas TataPopulation ageing is a human success story and an inevitable outcome of the demographic transition. In Asia-Pacific, the pace of change is unprecedented, with fertility rates falling rapidly across the entire region and life expectancy rising, resulting in a rapid increase in the proportion of older persons. In 2000, those aged 65 or older made up 6.1 per cent of the population; in 2019 it was 8.7 per cent and in 2050 it is projected to be 18.4 per cent. In many...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Asia-Pacific Democracy Development & Aid Editors' Choice Global Governance Headlines Health Inequity Labour Population TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Source Type: news