Muscat: The elderly are being forced to live a lonely life as an unfortunate impact of rapid urbanisation - thus the government is gearing up to take care of the ageing population, said Barka Al Bakry, an Omani social worker.

She was commenting on Oman's Health Ministry's plans to develop a system that will take care of the country's increasingly ageing population.

"The Health Ministry is gearing up for such an eventuality because a lot of children drop their elderly parents or relatives at hospital and eventually abandon them," Al Bakry told Gulf News.

She said that in the past Omani families took care of their extended family.

"Unfortunately, now the increasing needs of an individual is gradually tearing society's fabric. People want to buy luxury cars or go on holidays and thus have little time for elderly people."

She agreed it was impossible to stop this trend but said "we must attempt to delay this trend as the elderly population keeps growing in the country."

Al Bakry is optimistic that government initiatives in this direction will help to a great extent.

Services

Dr Yaqoub Al Maghdri, Director at the Ministry's Elderly Care Department, said: "The demographic transition combined with a steady improvement in life expectancy is resulting in an increasingly ageing population. We need to understand the needs of this population and adapt our services accordingly."

He added, in a statement issued by the health ministry, that people over the age of 65 represented 3.5 per cent of the total population.

"This is expected to reach 10 per cent by 2025 and 20 per cent by the 2050. Compared to high-income countries, developing countries, including Oman, have less time to adjust to the consequences of an aging population.

"The aims of such services are to support older people and their families in maintaining an independent lifestyle in the familiar surrounding of their communities," he said.

He added the ministry had already taken several initiatives in relation to elderly citizens.

"A home for elderly people has been set up in Nizwa with the collaboration of the Ministry of Social Development," he said.

He said another home health care project had been doing very well since 2004 in the Al Amerat area of Muscat.

Addressing needs

An analysis of a representative sample of elderly people was conducted by the Department of Research and Studies in the Dhakhliya region

"The results will assist in planning appropriate intervention to address the needs of elderly people.

"Some of the key activities planned for the coming years include adopting a National Strategy on Elderly Care and establishing a database on the elderly population," Al Maghdri said.