Photo: Jorge Luis Borges
Text: Cuba News 360 letter
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) this Monday released a series of reports analyzing various aspects of the aging population and the health situation of older people in Latin America.
According to PAHO, Latin America is facing an acceleration in population aging, supported by a study that suggests that by 2030 there will be more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 15 in the region.
And although life expectancy in the Region has increased by three years since 2000, averaging 77.2 years in 2019, older men and women continue to face health problems, affecting them for an average of 9.7 and 12.3 years, respectively. or.
PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa stressed that the presented studies represent a significant advance and unify data and information to report on the aging, health and well-being of the elderly population in Latin America.
Barbosa noted that with this information available, many of the challenges and opportunities that accelerated aging poses for the region can be identified, understood and addressed.
The series of reports also shows that poverty and inequalities have an impact on the life course and the conditions in which people age, as has been shown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the major challenge today is to ensure that older people live healthier lives for most of their lives, which requires the application of strategies throughout life, not just in old age.
PAHO considers it essential to promote an enabling environment for older people and integrated health care centered on people, mainly through primary health care, as they are a fundamental part of sustainable development.
Meanwhile, the Director of PAHO stressed that unless older people are at the heart of strategies, including both current and future generations, one cannot speak of inclusive and sustainable development.
The Decade of Healthy Aging in the Americas: situation and challenges report series was conducted as part of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030).
The reports devoted sections to the human rights of older adults, their access to new technologies and the economic context of ageing, as well as the situation of indigenous people and the Lgbtiqa+ community in these age groups.
The series is the result of collaboration between PAHO and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). ).