la qualita' della vita degli anziani

Italia solo 27ª nella classifica mondiale per qualità della vita degli anziani

La graduatoria è realizzata da HelpAge International, network globale sviluppato con la collaborazione dell’Onu. La migliore performance per il nostro Paese è quella legata alla sicurezza del reddito: siamo sesti. Ci collochiamo al 15esimo posto per la salute. Svezia al top. LO STUDIO

02 OTT - L’Italia si colloca al 27esimo posto su 91 nella classifica mondiale che misura la qualità della vita delle persone anziane. E’ quanto emerge dai riscontri effettuati dal ‘Global Age Watch Index’, realizzato da HelpAge International, network globale sviluppato con la collaborazione dell’Onu. Sul gradino più alto del gradino si piazza la Svezia, a seguire Norvegia e Germania. Completano la top 10  Paesi Bassi, il Canada, la Svizzera, la Nuova Zelanda, gli Stati Uniti, l'Islanda e infine il Giappone.

Il report tiene conto di quattro parametri fondamentali: sicurezza del reddito, salute, lavoro e formazione, condizioni ambientali favorevoli. Ed è sul primo indicatore che l’Italia ottiene la performance migliore: si classifica in sesta posizione, meglio addirittura di Paesi come Svezia e Germania. Note negative per quanto riguarda gli altri ambiti. A livello di salute siamo 15esimi, per l’istruzione 62esimi, per l’ambiente 53esimi. Da segnalare, nel complesso, il basso rendimento della Cina che nella graduatoria generale non va oltre la 35esima posizione.

L’invecchiamento procede a ritmo incalzante in tutto il pianeta ed entro il 2050 ci saranno due miliardi di persone con oltre 60 anni, cioè oltre un quinto della popolazione mondiale. "La continua esclusione degli anziani dalle agende politiche nazionali e globali è uno dei principali ostacoli a una risposta ai bisogni della popolazione anziana del mondo", ha sottolineato Silvia Stefanoni, amministratore delegato di HelpAge International.

.....................The results of the Global AgeWatch Index, globally and regionally, lead us to draw a number of conclusions about how countries are responding to the challenges and opportunities presented by population ageing.
Money isn't everything

A number of low-income countries have shown that

limited resources do not have to be a barrier to providing

for their older citizens. For example, over the past two

decades in particular, governments in Asia, Africa and

Latin America have introduced non-contributory basic

pensions as part of their social welfare programmes.

Some others have begun to offer free or subsidised

healthcare for older people. Such programmes provide

secure incomes and better health for people in old age

and long-term benefits too, through investments by older

people in family and community, and healthier older

populations.

Guaranteeing the wellbeing of all
Although the Global AgeWatch Index rankings frequently

correlate with those of the Human Development Index,

there is not always an exact match. In some countries,

older people have not fared as well as the general

population, and this is particularly true where economic

growth is rapid. People who have lived with poverty and

inequality throughout life enter old age with profound

cumulative disadvantages. These can be addressed

through policies that are designed to ensure that social

progress includes people of all ages.

History counts

People in countries that have a record of progressive

social welfare policies for all their citizens across the

life-course are more likely to reap the benefits in old age.

Investment in education and healthcare, employment and

training in the long term and throughout the life-course

pays social and economic dividends for individuals and

for societies. Good management of ageing is within

reach of governments.

Maintaining the momentum

Good-quality policy and practice in the past can only

guarantee the wellbeing of older populations in the

future if there is continuity. This is especially critical

as population ageing gathers pace in many countries.

Progressive social policies are making a difference to

older peoples wellbeing in many countries, but these

need to be maintained and expanded  something that

may prove politically diffcult, given broader economic

pressures currently facing many countries. Existing legal

and policy frameworks on ageing need to be continually

strengthened, and new, well-costed strategies introduced

that respond to the evolving situation of ageing societies.

It's never too soon to prepare

Countries are at different points on the ageing trajectory.

Those that have signi─cant populations of young people

can potentially bene─t from a ｷdemographic dividendｸ,

as they have large numbers of people of prime working

age. Governments, civil society, the private sector and

individuals all need to use this opportunity to put

age-friendly policies in place now. The justi─cation for

investing more public resources to tackle the challenges

of ageing populations is simple: healthier and more

secure older people are a valuable and productive

economic resource that should not be stimed by

outmoded public policies such as mandatory retirement

or discriminatory disincentives to work beyond an

arbitrary age.

Addressing the data challenge

The Index emphasises the importance of age in data

collection and analysis but it also exposes the limitations

of current data on older people in many countries.

These gaps in the data call into question the capacity of

governments and other stakeholders to make informed

and appropriate policy decisions a〞ecting not only older

people but all age groups. This is at a time when the

dialogue on the global development framework that will

succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 is

calling for a data revolution for sustainable development,

with a new international initiative to improve the quality

of statistics and information available to people and

governments.68 If the ambition of the post-2015

development framework leave no one behindｸ is to

be achieved, older populations must be included among

those who are counted.

Ageing well requires action

The most urgent concerns for older people worldwide are

a guarantee of income security and access to a〞ordable

healthcare. Both are essential to unlocking the potential

of population ageing. They are the issues most frequently

mentioned by older people themselves and among the

greatest challenges that governments face, with the

current global economic crisis exacerbating financial

pressures. Universal income and good healthcare in old

age are not unaffordable.

Population ageing need not be a crisis for governments

or societies. It can and should be planned for in order to

transform the challenges it presents into opportunities.

The Global AgeWatch Index highlights countries with

progressive approaches that can be used to identify

positive solutions, which are feasible even for poorer

countries.

Ensuring income security for all

Poverty and inequality are major concerns, and in many

countries inequalities in access to decent work and a

reliable income (enabling both an adequate quality of

life and capacity to save for the future) have substantial

impacts in later life. Investment in comprehensive social

protection systems is vital to ensure income security

at all ages, but particularly in later life. Nevertheless,

globally, it is estimated that only one in 􀆩ve people have

access to comprehensive social protection systems.69

Yet the Index shows that in countries that have chosen

to provide social protection (including low-income

countries) older populations fare well, with the benefits

felt not only by older people but by entire families too.

Ensuring access to quality healthcare

To realise their right to enjoy the highest attainable

standard of health, older people need access to aéordable

and appropriate health services. Health services need

to adapt continuously as populations age. One particular

challenge concerns the rising incidence of noncommunicable

diseases (now recognised as an issue not

just for a􀆬uent societies but for all countries), and their

disproportionate impact in later life. Again, investments

over the long term in both curative and preventive

services have significant benefits for older people.

Training of health professionals and caregivers is also

essential to ensure that appropriate care, support and

advice is available to older people.

Challenging age discrimination

The Index indicates that quality of life and wellbeing in

old age can be aéected by stigma and age discrimination.

Old age may be a time of opportunity, but only if

attitudes to ageing and older people are positive and

non-discriminatory. On ethical and humanitarian

grounds, changing attitudes to old age and devoting

resources to older people is unquestionably the right

thing to do because it is fair and just. Older people have

a fundamental human right to their share of resources,

enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. Lifelong learning opportunities through

education, training and employment for people in later

life are critical to increase human capital and meet

individual needs.

Keeping watch

The Global AgeWatch Index 2013 represents a beginning.

It takes the first steps in establishing a full understanding

of the lives of older people around the world.

The Index will be updated annually and is oéered as a

reference point to monitor progress and encourage all

countries u whatever their level of wealth (past and

present) and their policy history u to do more to ensure

that they are prepared for meeting the challenges of

population ageing. We will extend the Index to cover

all countries and to disaggregate data by sex. We will

pilot its use in national contexts and look for new data

to expand the Index further.

We hope the Global AgeWatch Index, and the

fascinating picture it is beginning to reveal about the

diéerences in how older people around the world are

faring, will start a lively and open debate on the status of

ageing and older people in diéerent parts of the world,

which will ultimately help to inform policies and change

practices. On the basis that what gets measured gets

done, the Index aims to keep a focus on improving the

information needed for more eéective and appropriate

decision making to respond to global ageing. In this way,

development endeavours can take account of the process

of ageing and reinforce the opportunities it brings to

societies, as well as the challenges................