Two or three decades ago, the lifespan of senior citizens was considered to be less than 60 years. Senior citizens, since time immemorial, have enjoyed the love, affection and respect of their children and grandchildren. All their needs would be met by their families. They were, in a way, invisible. But now things are beginning to change. Their longer lifespan as well as the demands of changing lifestyles, economic and social problems, have created challenges which every society must face.

The world population of the elderly has been steadily increasing since 1948 due to declining fertility and increasing life expectancy rates. The world's elderly population (60 years and older) reached 251 million in 1950 and 488 million in 1990. It will reach 1,250 million in 2025 -- an increase of 146 per cent. Most of the current and future increase will take place in the developing world, in Asia and South Asia in particular. South Asia will experience a dramatic increase in its elderly population by nearly nine times between 2010 and 2025 when life expectancy will increase to 75 years for men and 82 years for women.

In Pakistan, the elderly population is estimated to be 7.2 million and it is steadily increasing to form about 10 per cent of the population. By the next decade it is expected to rise to about 15 per cent of the population. This means heavier burden on the younger generation who are duty-bound to care for their elders. It also means an additional burden on the government exchequer for providing healthcare to them -- more nurses and medical personnel will be required to care for the elderly, sick and many more problems will have to be solved by society and by the government.

The western world has vigorously addressed the problem of the elderly since a long time, according to their culture. This has largely resulted in establishing homes for the elderly where the elderly are sent when they are unable to look after themselves. Every city and town in the West has such homes in the public and private sectors.

When we, in Pakistan, talk of services for the aged, the idea of starting homes for them springs to our minds and we tend to copy western methods without giving a thought to the excellent social safety net which our family system provides and which has now become the envy of the western world. Moreover, the religious injunctions in Islam which enjoin the care of elders as a religious duty on all family members strengthen the family safety net and reinforce it. That is why problems of the elderly have not received due attention in our society.

The challenge which our society now faces is to find ways and means of providing adequate care to the elderly on the cultural and traditional pattern of our family structures, without blindly following the West.

It is relevant to state that in a recent study conducted by the Senior Citizens Council it was revealed that 98 per cent of the elderly population preferred to stay with their families rather than be admitted to homes for them. The emotional and social satisfaction of being with their children and grandchildren could not be replaced by the barren atmosphere of homes managed by strangers.

However, with the changes in our family patterns and lifestyles, especially the tendency of the young members to migrate to other countries, the elderly are facing severe problems. Studies have shown that we still do not abandon our old parents, but a long-term chronic sickness -- such as dementia, paralysis, Alzheimers etc -- creates enormous financial and emotional burden on the younger generation. The increasing economic dependency created by chronic illness of the elderly and the rising cost of living prevents children from caring for their parents as well as they would like. The elderly, both men and women, face specific health and psychological problems which need special long-term care.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?: Geriatric care: Given the fact that the most urgent need of the elderly is better healthcare, we should give top priority to geriatric care. Every government and non-government hospital in every district should have a geriatric ward where long-term care can be given to the elderly suffering from age-related diseases which cannot be treated at home. This will ensure proper medical care as well as relieve their families from the extra burden of taking them to doctors and spending money which they cannot afford.

Care at home: All the elderly population does not have to be admitted to hospitals. They can be cared at home by their families. However, exorbitant medical costs prevent them from taking proper treatment with the result that they are often neglected.

The resources from Zakat funds should be made available to help some of the deserving indigent families to take care of their elderly parents when they cannot afford to do so.

Make them feel useful: Unlike the West, in our country there is no retirement age or benefits for all citizens except for the government, semi-government and some salaried class individuals. So people keep working for as long as they are able to. People who do retire find themselves lost. Amongst them are teachers, nurses, engineers, craftsmen etc. The rich are able to go to clubs and gymkhanas to enjoy. The others feel neglected and useless. It is therefore necessary to find ways and means to use their talents and experience for nation-building activities such as adult literacy and skill training programmes.

These are some of the challenges which our society has to face. In doing so, we have to find solutions based on our own culture and traditions.