Senior citizens need extra help: Seminar
JAKARTA (JP): A seminar on hearing impairment concluded on Saturday that senior citizens suffering hearing problems needed increased levels of financial and moral support to cope with the condition.
Minister of Health Farid Anfasa Moeloek said at the seminar that people should consider providing financial assistance to elderly people to assist them with their medical and daily expenditures.
"Medical costs for the elderly are expensive, because they are prone to degenerative illnesses related to aging," he told participants of the seminar, organized by the Indonesian National Council for Social Welfare (DNIKS).
He said most elderly people suffered hearing and sight impairment, as well as other health problems such as osteoporosis and prostatitis.
The minister said it was difficult for low income elderly people to obtain medical treatment, because most of them were retired and did not have savings.
He said medical costs would rise in conjunction with the increased life expectancy of the older generation.
In 1990, Indonesians' life expectancy was calculated at 61.5 years. It increased to 63.5 years in 1995, and reached 64.3 years in 1997.
"Indonesia's senior citizen population is expected to be 19 million, or 8.5 percent of the population, in 2010.
"This increase will equal the number of children under five years of age in 2010," Moeloek said.
He said the government had introduced an insurance scheme to help elderly people with their medical costs.
DNIKS chairman Bustanil Arifin said the growing senior citizen population would cause complex and multifaceted problems for the state.
"It will lead to changes in the country's social, cultural, legal, demographic, biological, psychological and behavioral conditions," he said.
Secretary-General of the Indonesian Gerontology Association Toni Setiabudhi said elderly people who suffered hearing impairment often experienced frustration when communicating with other people, because they were unable to convey their message.
"This can lead to frustration, depression and social isolation," he said.
Sri Mulyono Herlambang of the National Institute for Elderly Welfare said the older people with hearing impairments needed support from their families.
"Sometimes their families deny the reality," he said .
He called on the government to pay more attention to problems experienced by senior citizens.
"They should be given priority when queuing for public services. They also deserve tax reductions," Herlambang said.
Currently, only war veterans and retired civil servants and military personnel enjoy the tax reduction facility.
On the other hand, the government has issued a lifelong identity card policy for all senior citizens aged 60 years or older. They are also granted fare reductions when traveling by trains or other state-run transportation services.
Soedarpo Sastrosatomo, a prominent businessman who also suffers a hearing impairment, said the elderly needed cheap hearing aids and the availability of more audiologists.
"The elderly, especially the lower class, need more affordable hearing aids.
"They also need more audiologists to help determine their stage of hearing impairment," he said.
Christopher Shaw, secretary-general of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People, said it was important to create public awareness of the condition because up to 50 percent of 65 year-olds experienced hearing loss problems.
"Family and community support is important to motivate people to use hearing aids. Without such support, they would stop using (them)," he said. (05)