Nagpur: Geriatric population has always been an ignored group and geriatric medicine a very miniscule part of medical studies in the country. Projections say the number of senior citizens in India would form at least a third of the country's population. Considering this, the medical and social facilities extended to the elderly must be improved, too, experts believe.
Specialists in geriatric medicines from all over the country gathered in the city this weekend to discuss the roadmap that the country needs to follow for healthcare facilities given to the elderly. The 11th annual national conference of Geriatric Society of India (GSI) was conducted in the city this weekend, with the help of Influenza Foundation of India (IFI), Indira Gandhi National Open University ( IGNOU) and Indian Menopause Society (IMS).
"Today, India is home to 95 million senior citizens who make up for 20% of the population. The country is projected to have 171 million elderly people by 2015 and 345 million by 2050. We need to gear up as a society, to be able to give a comfortable life to all these citizens. However, what we see today is that the society concentrating on children and young earning members of the family, sometimes even at the expense of the health of the senior citizens," said Dr Bhau Rajurkar, organizing chairman of the conference. He said that the society is trying to stress the importance of geriatrics as a separate subject in medical curriculum so as to have the necessary number of specialists in the subject.
Specialists in geriatric medicines from all over the country gathered in the city this weekend to discuss the roadmap that the country needs to follow for healthcare facilities given to the elderly. The 11th annual national conference of Geriatric Society of India (GSI) was conducted in the city this weekend, with the help of Influenza Foundation of India (IFI), Indira Gandhi National Open University ( IGNOU) and Indian Menopause Society (IMS).
"Today, India is home to 95 million senior citizens who make up for 20% of the population. The country is projected to have 171 million elderly people by 2015 and 345 million by 2050. We need to gear up as a society, to be able to give a comfortable life to all these citizens. However, what we see today is that the society concentrating on children and young earning members of the family, sometimes even at the expense of the health of the senior citizens," said Dr Bhau Rajurkar, organizing chairman of the conference. He said that the society is trying to stress the importance of geriatrics as a separate subject in medical curriculum so as to have the necessary number of specialists in the subject.
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