THANKS to advances in medical science and healthier lifestyles, the elderly population in most countries, including Pakistan, can enjoy longer, more active lives. But with growing numbers of old people requiring care and younger family members struggling to provide support, some serious concerns have emerged as illustrated in a report in this paper recently. The story focuses on a care home for the elderly in Karachi, a project funded entirely by a former physiotherapist whose efforts have given security to 25 men and women, many of them with no family member to visit them in their twilight years. While our collective attitude needs to change, and understanding the travails of the old ought to replace a general lack of compassion, there are other factors that must also be considered as the extended family structure crumbles in the face of new socioeconomic challenges. Women, the traditional caregivers, are entering the workforce, and are no longer able to give much time to older relatives at home. Also, young families immigrating in search of better economic prospects are leaving behind elderly parents with no one to give them emotional, physical or economic support. So care homes are required — however much we may boast of a tradition that values the elderly, the fact remains that our streets remain full of old people with no place to call home.

With the ageing population set to increase to 43m by 2025, it is imperative for the state to strategise social care reform. There may be individual and community-based interventions — Karachi’s Parsi General Hospital and its attached infirmary managed by a board of trustees is an example of a subsidised retirement home. But this is not enough. Perhaps a private-public approach could be adopted if the state is incapable of handling this social crisis on its own. No individual should be deprived of dignity and comfort in the last years of his or her life — and it is primarily the duty of the state to ensure this.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017