India's elderly population to cross 340 million by 2050
The Indian Government is taking steps to ensure proper care of India's elderly people whose population will cross 340 million by 2050, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel on Friday said. Patel said the National Program for Healthcare of Elderly was launched by the government with an aim of providing dedicated care services to an aging population. Here are more details.
What is the aim of the program?
The program aims to provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality long-term, comprehensive and dedicated care services to an aging population. Community-based primary health care approach, including domiciliary visits by trained health care workers, are also part of this program. The Minister also said the government has initiated Longitudinal Aging Studies across all states to collect the data on disease burden.
Dedicated National Centers for Aging in Delhi, Chennai
Patel said that two dedicated National Centers for Aging will come up, each in AIIMS, Delhi and Madras Medical College, Chennai. The National Centers of Aging are expected to be Centers of Excellence in the field of geriatric care in the country, she added.
