September 18, 2006	Monday	Sha'aban 24, 1427

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MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 17: Two UK-based non-governmental organisations have joined hands to provide better service to elderly people in the quake-hit zone after an assessment revealed that geriatric and palliative care had received little attention in these areas.

“Although a lot of work has been done in quake-hit areas, an assessment in February has disclosed that the chronic needs of old people were not given proper attention,” said Asma Akbar of HelpAge International (HAI), a global network of organisations with the aim to work with and for disadvantaged old people worldwide to achieve a lasting improvement in the quality of their lives.

“There was concern for children and may be for youngsters but it is a bitter fact that the elderly people who form a sizeable portion of our population were ignored,” she told Dawn at the conclusion of a 3-day workshop at the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences Muzaffarabad on Saturday.

Ms Akbar said fragile health and mobility, neglect and abuse were factors that increased vulnerability of old women and men who had been displaced and separated from their families and communities.

Ms Akbar said since the Merlin-UK — an NGO providing health and humanitarian assistance to populations affected by war and natural disasters — was already running five field-hospitals in different remote locations of the quake hit area, the HAI had partnered and seconded staff into it with the aim to strengthen the existing health programme.

The two NGOs have launched a series of training workshops in collaboration with the AJK Health Department for capacity building of local healthcare institutions and healthcare providers so that they can attend the elderly in an organised way, she said.

All other NGOs engaged in quake-hit zone are also being persuaded to focus on geriatric and palliative care as one or two NGOs alone cannot cater to the growing needs of aging population, she said.