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BMJ No 7115 Volume 315 News Saturday 25 October 1997
South East Asia confronts its rapidly aging populationSouth East Asia is having to face the problems of a rapidly aging population more quickly than other areas of the world. As a result, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has established a programme to tackle the needs of the growing elderly population. It took over 100 years for the proportion of Belgium's population aged over 60 to double from 9% to 18%. China will achieve this same doubling in 34 years and Singapore in only 20 years. Such trends are frequently described as "a demographic time bomb," but they are due to declines at all ages in fertility and mortality - the hallmarks of any successful society. In South East Asia, families have traditionally looked after their elderly relatives, and the (predominantly male) politicians in the countries of South East Asia hope that traditional family values will continue despite the emancipation of women and rapid modernisation. ASEAN, set up to foster trade and development in the region, decided to confront directly the problems of continued family support and community care, and during 1997 it organised a series of meetings to examine the relevant health and social policies of member countries. At the final meeting in August, hosted by the College of Public Health, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, participants agreed that the countries of South East Asia should aim to achieve an average healthy active life expectancy of over 70 years by 2020. Predictably, there was more agreement about what needs to be done throughout the region than about how it should be done and funded. Participants wanted, for example, community based training in the care of disabled elderly people, improved access for disabled people to public transport and buildings, and financial incentives for families to continue caring. Funding will be available from the United Nations' development programme. Shah Ebrahim
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