Old people in rural areas need access to healthcare: Official

By LULU MARK
ELDERLY people in rural Papua New Guinea have difficulty accessing healthcare services, an official says.
During the celebration of the International Day of Older Persons yesterday (Oct 1), the Community Development, Youth and Religion department’s elderly section deputy secretary Jenny Kiap said PNG’s elderly population was increasing.
She said a person was considered elderly from 65 years onwards as this was national retirement age in the public service.
Kiap said the elderly population was estimated at 3.6 per cent of the total population and would increase to 5 to10 per cent in the next few years.
She said just as their population was growing their needs and challenges were growing as well.
Kiap said surveys conducted by the department in Kairuku, Central and Imbonggu of Southern Highlands revealed that the elderly felt neglected.
She said this group was prone to diseases and when they get sick it was a challenge for them to visit health facilities.
She said many rural areas had limited health services or none and the old people had to travel long distances to access healthcare.
The main problem for the elderly was the cost of healthcare which they could not afford because they no longer earned an income or that they lacked opportunities to generate an income to support themselves.
Kiap said it was a common practice in PNG where conditions were set by relatives before help could be offered and with elderly mostly tasked to do menial work or babysit.
She encouraged the younger population to respect and love their elderly and learn from them.
She said strong family and community support was needed in the recognition, care and support of this group.