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This is the
last issue of this year. In this issue we have the three
papers from the Middle East Network on Ageing Research-MENAR.
This is the third project for MENAR that deals with
Situation analysis of population ageing in Middle East
where we are concentrating on EMRO region for that matter.
In the first three papers we
have reports from Egypt, Iraq and Sultanate of Oman.
Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East.
One of the main features of the Egyptian population
over the last few decades is the gradual increase in
the absolute and relative numbers of older people. This
trend is expected to continue over the next decades.
The Egyptian census is carried out every 10 years, last
one was in 2006. The percent of older people" defined
as 60 yrs of age and more" was 4.4% in 1976, 5.66%
in1986, 5.75% in 1996, and rising to 6.27% in 2006,
to be 7% in 2011. The percentage is projected to be
8.1% in 2016, and 9.2% in 2021, and it is expected to
reach 20.8% in 2050. This means that, around 20 million
Egyptians will be categorized as elderly by that time.,
Life expectancy in Egypt at birth is 71.8 years, 74
years for females, and 69.5 years for males. The rate
of population aging may also be modulated by migration.
Immigration usually slows down population aging, because
immigrants tend to be younger and have more children.
In Iraq Elderly segment of population
in Iraq are finding it increasingly difficult to cope
with daily life as the country's security conditions
worsen. Elderly related demographic data showed that
Age group Age group 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 487,841/female
561,797). About 72.4 percent of elderly women are illiterate
and only 5.4 percent of them have a diploma degree or
higher. About 35 percent of these women reported that
there physical conditions are either bad or very bad,
and there are no differences in women situation in Kurdistan
and other governorates of Iraq. Elderly population in
Iraq continue to be victims of non-responding health
care system in terms of High numbers of elderly "bed
blockers" at the main acute hospitals. (Cost).
Lack of Elderly Rehabilitation Centers. (Transitional
care). Lack of Local Geriatricians or physicians trained
in geriatrics. Slowly developing geriatric services.
Lack of Geriatric teaching at medical school's curriculum.
Under developed community services model. (Not ideal)
UN equal services delivery among. There is a need for
setting up sustainable national elderly protection and
care program through framework of stakeholders at multi
sectoral level. Developing elderly care policies to
address care access, care cost, care quality& other
gaps. Recognizing elderly population as fragile, vulnerable
victims for the conflict and violence context.
Sultanate of Oman is located in the south eastern corner
of the Arabian Peninsula. It is with an approximate
geographical area of 309,500 square kilometres and a
population of 2.577 million people . There are no recorded
population census before the 1970s. with regards to
the Elderly population in Oman, they constituted 3.0%
of 1993 population which increased to 3.2% in 2003 then
to 3.5% in 2010 . Projections indicate that elderly
population in Oman will reach 231 975 in 2025 to constitute
5.8% of the total population and will increase further
to 821 023 in 2050 to constitute 15.2% of the total
population. Such rapid increase in the proportion of
old people in Oman is the result of the continuous decline
in infant mortality and the increase in life expectancy
at birth brought by the rapid economic and social development,
improvement in the standard of living as well as the
delivery of quality healthcare services. Concomitantly
life expectancy at birth has gained 11.5 years resulting
in an increase from 62.7 years in 1980 - 1985 to 74.2
years in 2000 - 2005 and it is expected to reach 80.9
years by 2050. Therefore there is a need to create adequate
services.
A cross sectional study from Tunis looked at the Prevalence
of obesity in elderly people in Tunisia. The objective
of this study is to measure obesity prevalence in elderly
population in Monastir and to study the link between
obesity and health risk variable. A randomly selected
homes in randomly selected geaographical islets, concerning
elderly aged more than 65 years living in their home.
Study concern 598 elderly aged more than 65 years (mean
age 72.3 ± 7.4 years, 66 % women). Obesity was
defined using body mass index (BMI) >= 30 kg/m2.
Central obesity was considered at a waist circumference
of > 102 cm in men and > 88 cm in women.
The prevalence of obesity was 49 %. The prevalence of
obesity was higher in women (59.3 % vs 28.5 %, p<0,001)
and in elderly aged less than 70 years (60 % vs 29.3
% for elderly aged more than 80 years). The mean BMI
was 31,4 kg/m2 in women vs 27,9 kg/m2 in men. The prevalence
of obesity was higher in urban region (50.7 % vs 38.7
%, p<0.01), in diabetic (65 % vs 43. 2 %, p<0.001)
and hypertensive (59.6 % vs 37 %, p< 0.001). The
mean of circumference waist was significantly higher
in urban region in both women and men. The central obesity
was more important for diabetic and hypertensive elderly.
The author conclude that her study support the high
prevalence of obesity in elderly living at home in Monastir.
Prevention actions are required to decrease the morbidity
in this elderly Tunisian people
A paper from India looked at
measurement Of Health Inequality In India By Computing
Gini Coefficient. This study will measure the disparities
in length of life across age, sex, over periods (from
1970/71-2005) for India and some of its states viz.
Assam, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab and Uttar
Pradesh using Gini Coefficient. The correlation coefficient
between inequality in the length of life and average
length of life for all states and age groups is also
computed.
Data and Methodology: The data is secondary provided
by Sample Registration System (SRS), computed by office
of the Registrar General of India and put with fitted
arguments.
Results and Conclusion: The variation in the value of
this measurement in the work established the amount
of health disparities prevailing in this part of the
world.
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