Grey matter: ageing in developing countries

The proportion of older people is increasing in almost every country of the world but, by 2050, most will live in developing nations. This article wonders whether developing countries will be prepared for this demographic shift.

The paper notes that aging plans in developing countries are almost absent, and even when plans have been put in place, they are largely inadequate.

The paper highlights that:

• in fact, there has been a massive disconnect between the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ageing
• the countries now rapidly ageing have a brief window of opportunity to get these policies right for a new population age structure
• a root cause for states’ nonchalance to the ageing crisis seems to be the assumption that family units in developing countries are still fairly cohesive (i.e. they can shoulder the burden of care for older people)
• yet, this model does not take into account the capacity of family carers, and the common limitations to this capacity, such as women working and urbanisation
• actually, there is a real need to promote a social protection system that allows people to contribute during their working life and have a pension at the end of that life

The author concludes that developing countries are fast running out of time to implement adequate policy solutions to cope with their ageing populations, however, and the cracks are already starting to show.

In addition, the document demonstrates particularly the importance of establishing health plans for aging. Otherwise, many developing countries will inevitably have a large number of people whose health needs will not be adequately met.