TEHRAN –National Elderly Week will be commemorated from September 28 to October 4 in the country.

This year, the week’s theme is ‘active aging for everyone’s tomorrow’, Mehr news agency reported.

Each day of the week is assigned a specific theme, as well.

Saturday, September 28, ‘the elderly support youthful population’.

Sunday, September 29, ‘media and promoting the culture of respect for elderly’.

Monday, September 30, 'the elderly’s presence in family and society.'

Tuesday, October 1, ‘honoring the elderly by executive bodies’.

Wednesday, October 2, ‘the elderly’s education and empowerment’.

Thursday, October 3, ‘social, welfare support for the elderly’.

Friday, October 4, ‘making places and services accessible for the elderly’.

Role of preventive care in reducing disabilities

Providing prevention services at different levels to the elderly is effective in reducing the level of disorders and disabilities in old age.

According to the United Nations, a country with more than 7 percent of the old population is considered an elderly country.

The latest statistics indicate that the elderly constitute about 5.7 to 7 percent of the country's population. In other words, the most important challenge facing the country is the issue of old age.

In this regard, a national plan with the aim of increasing awareness about the role of preventive care in reducing disabilities in old age was proposed for the target groups of the elderly (60 years old and above) and middle-aged people (45-60 years old).

The program was designed with the aim of changing health-related behaviors in middle-aged people and focusing on preventing disabilities caused by common problems in the elderly.

To this end, six common problems of this age group, including stroke, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and falls, were considered the main challenges that put the health of the elderly under threat.

In the first step, the program was implemented in 12 provinces of the country in 2007, and then in 15 other provinces in 2008.

In 2020 and 2021, the implementation of the program was stopped due to the spread of the coronavirus, but after that, the implementation started again.

“The National Document for the Elderly will come into force in the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 2023-March 2024),” Hesamoddin Allameh, head of the secretariat of the National Council of the Elderly, has said.

The Document thoroughly focuses on various aspects of the elderly’s lives by meeting six prime objectives of income and livelihood, health, training, and employment, building an empowering environment, promoting the cultural level of society in the field of aging, and developing the infrastructure required for aging, he explained.

MT/MG