Chile leads launch of Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030, which seeks to improve conditions for older people
The initiative is expected to unite the different signatory governments, civil society, international agencies, academia, the media and the private sector around a decade of full collaboration to actively improve the lives of older people, their families and the communities where they live.
Chile’s First Lady, Cecilia Morel, together with Health Minister Enrique Paris and National Service for Older People (SENAMA) National Director Octavio Vergara participated this Friday in the ceremony to launch the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030, which will be led by the First Lady. The event took place in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) main hall in Santiago, and was attended by health officials from throughout the region.
Chile has promoted this unprecedented milestone by organizing the event in our country, which seeks to get work underway on the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030 throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region. The event has been designed to emphasize the importance and meaning of including the issue on national and international agendas, as well as inviting authorities to take on the challenges and opportunities offered by the initiative, proposing a holistic vision for developing actions in four areas.
These are to:
1) Change how we think, feel and act towards age and aging;
2) Develop communities in ways that foster the abilities of older people;
3) Deliver person-centered, integrated care and primary health services that are responsive to older people; and
4) Provide older people access to long-term care when they need it.
In her presentation, First Lady Cecilia Morel, who will lead the “Adulto Mejor” (Aging Better) plan, explained, “the Decade of Healthy Ageing is offering us the opportunity to speed up public policy processes, uniting the different stakeholders, such as the public and private sectors, civil society and academia. It’s fundamental to guide the design of these public policies from a social healthcare and rights perspective.”
She added, “senior citizens are at the center of the decade, so their voice is essential for us to move towards a more equal society, orienting policies, plans and programs toward healthy and positive aging. In this way, we can debunk myths and prejudices regarding old age and aging. Through this process, and by promoting a society for all ages, we want to show the opportunities aging offers and its positive aspects.”
The initiative is expected to unite the different signatory governments, civil society, international agencies, academia, the media and the private sector around a decade of full collaboration to actively improve the lives of older people, their families and the communities where they live.
Health Minister Enrique Paris explained that “the region’s challenges include accelerated aging, epidemiological transition and a higher prevalence of functional dependence among our senior citizens.” He added that the main objectives are thus “to provide a better quality of life and autonomy in later years and to keep the population functioning at optimal capacity for as long as possible.”
SENAMA National Director Octavio Vergara emphasized that “population aging is one of the main challenges for the future. Because of this, it’s essential to be prepared and to carry out actions that allow us to better deal with the phenomenon. Over the next ten years, we want to create better conditions for older people that allow us to provide wellbeing and a better quality of life, even more so given that Chile is the country with the highest life expectancy in Latin America.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the population of every country around the world is aging rapidly. Between 2000 and 2050, the percentage of people aged 60 and over will double from 11% to 22%, thus quadrupling the population aged 80 and over. At the regional level, this process is expected to accelerate from 2030, when 17% of the population will be over 60 years of age.
The situation is similar in Chile. Life expectancy in Chile is currently 80.7 years and four million people - or almost 20% of the population - are over 60. This trend is set to continue over the coming decades, with Chile’s 60+ population forecast to reach 32% of the population by 2050.
In addition to the Chilean officials, some 30 representatives from different countries also participated in the event. Among them were the health ministers of Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Belize, Haiti, Suriname, Guatemala, Sint Maarten, Panama, Granada, El Salvador and Barbados. Representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Peru also participated.
Chile’s Action Plan for Older People 2021-2030
Alongside the regional launch, Chile has drawn up a Comprehensive National Health Plan for Senior Citizens (Plan Nacional de Salud Integral para las Personas Mayores), which includes a ten-year plan of action. It proposes to improve the wellbeing of older people and maintain or improve their functionality. The WHO itself has defined functionality as the best health indicator for this population group.
The initiatives that arise out of the national strategy fall within the framework of the Comprehensive Positive Aging Policy 2012-2025 (Política Integral de Envejecimiento Positivo) and the “Adulto Mejor” (Aging Better) program led by First Lady Cecilia Morel, which seek to make Chile kinder and fairer to older people.
The following are among the measures, many of which are already being developed:
1.- “Auge Mayor” (AUGE for older people), which seeks to facilitate access and quality in healthcare. This includes the Preferential Healthcare Law N° 21.168 for senior citizens and disabled persons, and the incorporation of Alzheimer’s and other dementias into the Explicit Health Guarantees plan (sometimes known as AUGE or GES).
2.- Acute Geriatric Units (Unidades Geriátricas de Agudos, “UGAS”): Specially adapted areas in hospitals oriented to the recuperation and rehabilitation of the elderly. They include an interdisciplinary team of professionals, led by a geriatrician, specialized in the attention of this population group.
3.- Increase the number of geriatricians by 50%.
4.- National Drug Policy (Política Nacional de Medicamentos), which includes 30 measures that seek to improve the availability of medications, reduce their prices and safeguard the quality of pharmaceutical products sold in Chile.
5.- “Ríe Mayor”: seeks to increase oral health coverage among the older population.
6.- Cross-sector working between the Health Ministry and the National Service for Older People in the design and construction of a social healthcare model for Chile. This includes connecting Long Term Residential Care Homes for Senior Citizens (ELEAM) with medical and nurse consultations via the digital health platform.
7.- Technical working group to address senior citizens’ mental health.