MoHW launches elderly wellness programme
Katlego Isaacs | Monday March 7, 2022 06:00
The Botswana Healthy and Active Ageing Programme Strategy will involve distributing documents to the elderly, aged 65 and above, on how they can maintain physical and mental wellness despite the health challenges they may be facing due to their age.
The guidance details dietary, exercise, and behavioural recommendations for the elderly living with or without various common illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, HIV and more.
The documentation also includes information on how to spot signs of various illnesses in response to health services across Botswana, noting that the elderly are often diagnosed late due to lack of information on how to spot early warning signs, especially for those in the rural areas. Speaking at the launch on Tuesday, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Edwin Dikoloti, spoke on the importance of the programme in ensuring the health systems of the nation do not neglect or disregard the elderly. “We will not be doing justice to some parts of our population if our health systems are rigid and focus only on the active and youthful population, disregarding those who have started the inevitable ageing process.
After all, we will all get old,” said the minister.
He added that with the support of WHO, a situational analysis of ageing in Botswana was conducted in 2019 and it discovered the alarming prevalence of illness among the elderly in Botswana. Dikoloti said: “This survey indicated that most older people in our country suffer from hypertension and have been largely infected and affected by HIV”. It was found that the cause of the high prevalence of HIV among the elderly in Botswana was as a result of the elderly often being the primary caregivers or guardians to the infected youth while lacking essential sick care knowledge. This lack of knowledge was also the primary cause of the late diagnosis among the elderly, compounded with limited access to healthcare facilities in rural locations.
Dikoloti insisted: “With about 8.5 percent of the population in Botswana being over 65 years and classified as aged and ageing, we need to correct the mistakes of the past and bring onboard our elderly population.” Leading the charge with the health ministry, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse noted his ministry’s commitment to the wellness of the nation’s senior population. “My ministry remains committed to the provision of social protection services to older adults through formulation and implementation of various policies and programmes,” Autlwetse stated. He further added: “The government, through my ministry, has devoted significant resources to ensure the delivery of social protection to citizens, including the protection of vulnerable populations such as the older adults.”
The elderly wellness programme was designed to align with the National Social Protection Framework (NSPF) approved by Cabinet in August 2020. However, the programme would not be possible without the support of WHO, which was tasked by the UN General Assembly in 2020 with globally implementing the principle guidelines for the ‘Decade of Healthy Ageing’ through 2021-2030. The programme guidelines stated four areas of action aimed at equipping the elderly across Botswana, and the world at large, with the essential knowledge needed to be able to maintain and monitor their physiological wellbeing to achieve ‘healthy ageing’. ‘Healthy ageing’ as defined by the WHO is “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age".
The four areas of action determined to achieve this are the creation of old age-friendly infrastructure, the combating of ageism in society, the provision of elderly care, and integrated elderly healthcare. Speaking on behalf of WHO, Dr Josephine Namboze, explained: “The decade of healthy ageing seeks to reduce health inequalities and improve the lives of older people, their families and communities through collective action." “Let's join hands to create a Botswana where everyone looks forward to growing older, where individuals can take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing whilst feeling confident that support will be available and easily accessible where needed,” she said.