Senior citizens need extra help: Seminar
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)