Presidential Adviser lauds elderly for their contribution towards national growth

Dr (Mrs) Christina Amoako Nuamah, Presidential Adviser on Wednesday lauded the elderly for their enormous contribution towards the country's socio-economic development.

“It is a well known fact that older persons contributed immensely to the development of the country with the transfer of knowledge and skills to the younger generation”.

“In a country where our retirement age is pegged at 60, most people retire and take on assignments, both nationally and internationally and perform creditable, because like old wine, they are very seasoned in their disciplines and very much sought after,” she added.

Dr Amoako Nuamah made the commendation when addressing the opening session of a three-day seminar on Ageing organised by Candela Medicals, a subsidiary of Candela Venture Capitals, (a conglomerate of businesses).

The seminar on the theme “Supporting Healthy Active Ageing, Ageing Gracefully and Successfully” was intended to close the life expectancy gap and healthy life expectancy between the active and those on retirement.

It was to promote active citizenship and personal independence through a healthy lifestyle in old age, alert policy makers of the need to include anti-ageing science as well as eliminate age discrimination in employment policy.

Some topics to be discussed include issues on diabetes, hypertension, kidney diseases, heart diseases, ageing and anti-ageing issues, and supporting healthy active ageing.

She called for more education on ageing to address the numerous challenges that come with it, and cited physical changes to the body organs, diseases, mobility and morbidity, and lack of social inclusion as some of the challenges that accompanied ageing.

The Presidential Adviser called for improved health care, improved conditions of living and other related factors to enable pensioners to live about 30 or more years after retirement from their previous jobs.

She urged people about to retire to seek more knowledge about ageing and good management of the ageing process before their retirement.

Dr Allison Willey, an NGO Ambassador to the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOCI), applauded Candela for the initiative as it sought to support efforts by the UN’s 2015 Millennium Development Goal of providing Global Health to all persons of the world.

She stressed the need to educate the world on the dynamics and consequences of population ageing.

“According to the Population Division of the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs, 50 per cent of the world’s populations is projected to double that of children by 2020,” she added.

Dr Willey noted that in most countries, the population of those above 80 years was growing faster than any other age group, adding that, populations were ageing in both rural and urban areas.

She called on governments in the world to put in place the needed policies to ensure that persons everywhere were able to age with security, dignity, and continue to participate in their societies as citizens with full rights.

Professor Yao Kwawukume, President of Ghana Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, cited poor nutrition, drugs, environmental toxins, viruses, cigarette smoking, cocaine and heroine use as some of the cause of abnormalities in pregnancy.

He called on couples experiencing childlessness to seek medical attention together since either one or both of them could be the cause of the problem.**