Old age is a sensitive phase. Since age progresses, various medical issues occur. Some of the particular known diseases usually are blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis, joint pains, as well as kidney infections. It is just not disease that affects old age, there are various other issues that impact health of old people. One of the main issues is the negligence from the younger generation. Unfortunately, many people in our country regard them as a burden.
According to a study, some 15 per cent of the elderly in Bangladesh suffer neglect in getting proper health care. What is more worrying is that most of their physical and mental ailments are only seen as age-related complications. As a result, most families feel that the problems of our senior citizens can never be cured. Consequently, many seniors are not given routine health tests. We have no specialised physicians to take care of elderly people.
Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, which is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people, has not yet been introduced in any of our medical colleges. This is why, doctors are not aware of the treatment of the elderly. There is also no geriatric hospital in the country. No effective referral system has been developed for the treatment of the low-income group senior citizens. Geriatrics that aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults should be part of our would-be doctors' curricula. Opportunities for geriatric treatment should be created in every upazila free of cost.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Research Assistant,
Bioinformatics Research Lab,
Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com