Third World ageing crisis

Abstract

A typical case, culled from the author's own experience in the Third World, points towards a major crisis in ageing in the near future for many developing countries. Whilst the increase in numbers of elderly, both gross and proportionate, is well-known, it is not so widely realised that the increase in developing countries will far outstrip that in industrialized nations. Although the elderly were historically cared for within the traditional extended family structure, that system is now breaking down before the advance of migration and easy divorce. Many elderly persons are left alone in depopulated communities. Others fail to adapt in the rural-to-urban transition. Most developing countries have no firmly established services for the elderly. However, as awareness of the impending crisis increases, community groups assist the elderly in developing their own initiatives to avoid the local effects of the crisis.