KUCHING, Sept 17: Pakatan Harapan (PH) National Women’s chief (Sarawak Affairs) Voon Shiak Ni hopes the federal government would set up a sustainable healthcare system for the elderly to address the impact of a rising ageing population.
“It is an undeniable fact that Malaysia will face the challenges and impact of an ageing population very soon, and our nations’ policies and systems need to be ready for it.
“The concerns that face us is that the younger population is growing at a slower pace than the ageing population, as families are getting smaller nowadays,” said Voon, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) National Women’s vice-chief, in a statement.
She added that it was common for a family to have 10 or more children four decades ago, but nowadays, having four is considered many.
“There is a need to plan for the ageing population and to formulate a security net for the elderly. This will not only help the elderly but the young too.
“The ageing population in Malaysia is expected to reach 32 million this year and is estimated to reach 15.3 per cent of the total population by 2030. So far, we have yet to see any good system in place to cope with the concerns,” she pointed out.
Voon predicted that many issues and challenges would come with an ageing population. It is a challenge facing the world, and every government needs to get ready to cope with the impact of this demographic change.
“From now to 2030, the number of people aged over 60 is expected to grow by 56 per cent worldwide. It is estimated to reach 1.5 billion.
“So it is very urgent to look into ways to address this concern of a growing ageing population. If I may suggest, we should start by identifying a good sustainable health care system for the aged. It is a big challenge, but we need to start somewhere,” said Voon. — DayakDaily
