Dr. Mohammed bin Omar Basliman, the Assistant Deputy Minister for Primary Health Care, pointed out that the Health Centers General Department has managed, under the directives of His Excellency the Minister of Health, to prepare a wide range of strategies for the elderly people. The Department aims, proceeding from this step, to provide the needed medical services for the elderly as well as the comprehensive and integrated care based on evidence; so as to improve their quality of life and promote the active aging stage. This will help the elderly enjoy good health, as well as independence in their daily activities, and a positive outlook on aging.
Also, the Health Centers General Department has managed to create a database so that the primary health care centers can be used as a cornerstone in the provision of health services for the elderly people.
Dr. Basliman made these remarks during the inauguration of the workshop organized by the Health Centers General Department at the Ministry of Health under the title: “Developments in the Management of Common Health Problems among the Elderly”.
Within the same vein, Dr. Basliman highlighted that the General Department is keen to meet the needs of the citizens, achieve their welfare, and develop the medical system in such a way that fulfills their needs, adding that such achievements are supported by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, May Allah protect him, as well as the continuous directives of the Minister of Health which have given us the chance to push the programs of primary health care forward.
For his part, The WHO Representative at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mustafa Tayan, has emphasized that the World Health Organization (WHO) encourages citizens to follow up healthy lifestyles in all their stages of life, in order to save lives, maintain health, reduce disability, and relief pain for all age groups, including the aging stage.
Also, Dr. Tayan pointed out that the early detection of diseases, development of prevention measures and provision of appropriate health care services lead to improve the health status of the elderly people.
Dr. Tayan underscored that the world currently witnesses an increasing rate of the elderly people, adding, this proves that the indicator of public health gets improved in all countries, so the world must feel happy. Meanwhile, Dr. Tayan stressed that the world population is rapidly ageing, as it is expected for the world's population aging over 60 years to get doubly increased in the period between 2000 and 2050, i.e. the rate is to range between 11% and 22%. It is also expected for the world's population aging 60 years and above to range between 605 million people and 2 billion people over the same period.
Within the same vein, Dr. Tayan expected that the world population, aging 80 years or more, is to exceed 400 million people by the year of 2050, while in the developing countries, the number of the elderly people, who cannot take care of themselves, is expected to witness a four-fold increase by the year of 2050.
The WHO representative at the Kingdom stressed also that the regulation of appropriate and inexpensive policies, through the provision of good health care and measures of chronic diseases, can help prevent or reduce the health problems among the elderly people, adding that the WHO emphasizes the urgent need to train all health care providers in the fields related to aging, and develop permanent policies in the fields of long-term care and palliative care, and provide services and facilities that are commensurate with the needs of the elderly people. Also, the provision of supportive and appropriate environments for the elderly can guarantee a happier life for them, increase their contributions as much as possible, improve their participation and ensure their independence.
For her part, Dr. Maisoon al-Amoud, manageress of the Elder Care Program, pointed out that the Ministry of Health, represented by the Health Centers General Department, had adopted a national strategy to maintain the health of the elderly; given that the Department had launched the evidence-based Elder Care Program with the aim of providing comprehensive and integrated health care for the elderly people and improving their quality of life.
Moreover, Dr. al-Amoud added that all these efforts come under the continuous support of the Ministry of Health to provide the highest levels of comprehensive health services for all age groups, and achieve a qualitative leap in such services; knowing that the Ministry currently works on expanding the scope of its primary health care services in order to meet the growing health needs of the elderly people.
Within the same vein, Dr. al-Amoud stressed that this international workshop comes as part of activities that aim at achieving the objectives of the Elder Care Program, which include hosting experts in the health of the elderly people, and showing local, gulf and international experiences in the field of the elderly heath care. The workshop will also highlight the developments in the management of common health problems among the elderly.
It is noteworthy that the workshop targets a number of assistant managers of the health affairs for public health, as well as the coordinators of the Elder Care Program in the regions, and some technical supervisors in the health centers that have implemented the program.