Asia’s population is ageing fast; here’s what we can learn
09-Dec-16, Thailand Business News
Globally, the number of older persons, rising at an unprecedented rate, is forecast to exceed 2 billion by 2050. By then, nearly two-thirds of the world’s older people – close to 1.3 billion – will be living in Asia-Pacific, and one in four people across the region is expected to be over 60. In north-east and East Asia, this proportion will be more than one in three people.
%20Population%20Division%20Department%20of%20Economic%20and%20Social%20Affairs%20UN%20Secretariat%202008%20revision.jpg "Asias population is ageing fast heres what we can learn (c) Population Division Department of Economic and Social Affairs UN Secretariat 2008 revision")
Image: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, 2008 revision
More than 20 countries in Asia-Pacific have adopted national policies or established special bodies on ageing, but many others have yet to do so. And even where policies do exist, implementation must be strengthened to ensure some of our most vulnerable and marginalized fellow humans can fully benefit from them.
Asia-Pacific has a long tradition of family and community support for older people, but that too is rapidly changing as lower fertility, mass migration, development and globalization change family structures and long-held values. Government healthcare and other protection systems are stretched too thin to meet their needs. Further, the vast majority of countries lack age-friendly environments including housing and infrastructure.