Songkran’s gentle reminder of our DEBT TO SENIORS

When the New Year was designated National Day of the Elderly in 1982, few people were thinking about the dramatic impact the “baby boom” generation would begin having once its members passed age 60.

Already Thailand has more than seven million citizens over the age of 65, representing 10 per cent of the population, and, with the birth rate failing to keep pace, that number will continue to grow in the decades to come. The public and private sectors are noting the changes happening now as a result of this tectonic shift in demographics, particularly in terms of healthcare and the shortfall in its provision. The World Bank has warned that the medical needs of Thailand’s rapidly rising senior population will soon overwhelm its available resources.

The universal healthcare system introduced in 2002 has never been adequate to accommodate everyone in need. It has failed to reach a significant segment of the elderly populace, particularly those over 80 and those living in remote locations, unable to travel or to travel far enough to enjoy its benefits. Often the very old are left on their own, their younger family members having to live elsewhere to earn decent wages.

The World Bank has prescribed all-inclusive reform of Thailand’s finances as well as its healthcare resources, urging better access to caregivers for seniors. It notes in a recent report that too many older people do without necessary medical attention because of the costs involved and the distance to hospitals. Modest allowances from the government are hardly enough to cover such “extras”, so the Bank has suggested a larger role for the tambon administrative councils known locally 

 as or bor tor. The councils could be promoting healthy habits, informing seniors about what they need and how to get it, and recruiting volunteers to visit the elderly and get them to the doctor when required, the Bank says.

The stated aim of the five-year Public Health Ministry strategy that’s gone into effect this year is “healthy ageing for everyone”. The immediate target – less ambitious yet still substantial – is providing 100,000 people with better access to healthcare professionals, with citizens age 70 and up given “fast-track” priority for service.

One of the ministry’s most daunting challenges in achieving its noble goal will be in extending medical services into the more remote areas, whose elderly residents have to travel a considerable distance for dialysis treatment, for example, or chemotherapy. The difficulty of reaching these people is readily acknowledged in the corridors of bureaucracy, and no doubt the Health Ministry is glancing to other ministries for assistance.

In this regard, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is going to have to get his Cabinet members on the same page of the agenda. Organising the tambon authorities falls within the realm of the Interior Ministry. Better access to medical care requires better roads, so the Transport Ministry’s attention is essential. The Ministry of Human Resources should be charged with mobilising an army of helpers, both paid and voluntary, for seniors.

Getting the cogs of government aligned for this task and putting the wheels in motion will take considerable time, and yet time is not in abundance when it comes to the needs of our ageing society. Let us begin with a shared vision, cognisant of existing needs but also looking ahead to the farther future, when fully a quarter of the population will be over 65 – just 25 years from now, according to the forecast.

Our society is ageing fast and its requirements are multiplying just as quickly. No matter how great the task, seniors should be shown every respect.