Healthcare for elderly is a right - HelpAge

Accra, May 29, GNA - Mr Ebenezer Adjetey-Sorsey, Executive Director of HelpAge Ghana (HAG), has expressed regret that managers of health facilities treat the elderly as if healthcare delivery to them was a privilege and not a right.

He said every olderly person has the right to have healthcare services just as any other group of people as enshrined in the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Mr Adjetey-Sorsey, who was addressing a Zonal Coordinating meeting to outline the two-year project on the promotion of the Rights of older persons, urged all Rights based Organisations such as Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to come on board to defend the rights of elderly.

He said under the project, HAG had launched 15 programmes, including seminars and workshops to re-awaken the responsibilities of the public towards the older persons.

He said the response after the various workshops, especially the one organised for Rights based organisations, media houses, paralegal and schools' drawing competition was very encouraging.

Mr Adjetey-Sorsey said the aim of the drawing competition was to change the negative perception people, especially the youth had about the aged and also to bring to light the fate of the aged and HIV/AIDS. He said the winning drawing was entered in competition in Nairobi, Kenya, on the theme: "The Older Person When the Husband Dies" and was selected the overall best in Africa.

The winner received 200 pounds sterling while the school was given 300 pounds sterling to purchase reading and teaching materials. The Executive Director announced that external consultants would start evaluating HAG programmes from June 26 to ascertain whether they had been making any impact and asked the zonal organisers to prepare their members towards that exercise.

He said HAG had published booklets, posters and recorded some of the information on cassette and VCDs to be distributed to all zones.