PAKISTAN AND URBAN AGEING SCENARIO

Abstract

Ageing is exactly the organic process of growing older and showing the effectsof increasing age. The state of Pakistan is caught in the complicated web of various socioeconomicand political problems. In such scenario, efforts to voice the rights of elderly seema bit surprising and out-of-priority box. Objective: The paper attempts to serve as an eyeopenerfor the policy makers both in public and private sectors to interrelate the factors deemedimperative for taking concrete steps to redress the menace arising out of ignoring ageingand dropping it from the national development agenda. Materials and Methods: Structuredinterview schedule was developed to collect information on Older Persons’ health, economicand psychological status. In this regard, an extensive questionnaire was designed and pretestedvigorously. Study Design: This paper is extracted out of the base-line exploratory study.Setting: Rawalpindi city. Period: Oct 2013 to Dec 2013. Results: 69.3% OPs reported variousdiseases, 19.7% respondents never visited the doctor. 25.1% respondents’ last visit to thedoctor was between six months to more than a year. 15.3% visited the doctor for a medicaltreatment. Older persons with no permanent income made them more vulnerable to suffervarious illnesses. Conclusions: Pakistan is not an aged-friendly country that even lacks a policyat national level for the welfare rights of older persons.