Although ageing is not yet a high priority tissue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in most developing countries there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in the developing world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a cross-national study (sponsored by the World Health Organization) of the health and social aspects of ageing in four developing countries--Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar eleven-country WHO study in Europe. In very broad terms, the overall demographic, physical, mental health and social patterns and trends associated with ageing as demonstrated by age-group and sex differences were consistent throughout the four countries studied. Comparisons with European findings in other similar studies underlined the fundamental universality of age-related changes in biophysical, behavioural and social characteristics. The importance of the family in developing countries was evident, with about three-quarters of those aged 60 and over in the four countries living with children, often in extended family situations. Levels of adverse health-related behaviour and the prospect of changing patterns of morbidity with further increases in the total and proportional numbers of aged persons point to a need for emphasis on preventive health measures and programmes directed to the maintenance of the physical and mental health of the ageing population.
While ageing is still clearly not a high priority issue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more and more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in countries which make up this region of the world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a WHO sponsored cross national study of the health and social aspects of ageing in four of the countries, namely Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar WHO eleven country study in Europe. The paper argues that there is an urgent need to develop health care strategies which will minimise the impact of population ageing and will maintain the growing numbers of old people in relatively good physical and mental health through preventive measures and through programmes directed to the maintenance of physical and mental health.
Although ageing is not yet a high priority issue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in most developing countries, there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in the developing world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a cross-national study (sponsored by the World Health Organization) of the health and social aspects of ageing in four developing countries: Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar 11-country WHO study in Europe. In broad terms, the overall demographic, physical, mental health and social patterns and trends associated with ageing as demonstrated by age group and sex differences were consistent throughout the four countries studied. Comparisons with European findings in other similar studies underlined the fundamental universality of age-related changes in biophysical, behavioural and social characteristics. The importance of the family in developing countries was evident with about three-quarters of those aged 60 and over in the four countries living with children, often in extended family situations. Levels of adverse health-related behaviour and the prospect of changing patterns of morbidity with further increases in the total and proportional numbers of aged persons point to a need for emphasis on preventive health measures and programmes directed to the maintenance of the physical and mental health of the ageing population.
A major factor in the increased need for health and long term care services for the elderly at advanced ages is the higher prevalence of multiple chronic diseases and functional impairments at those ages. The association of chronic morbidity and disability has been well studied in developed countries. However, there is relatively little evidence on those associations in developing countries. In this paper we report on data from the WHO regional office of the Western Pacific-sponsored surveys conducted in four countries (the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Fiji) which provide detailed information on that association. These data are analyzed using a multivariate analytic procedure that can identify both distinctive morbidity/disability patterns and the subgroups which manifest these patterns. In addition, we examine the implications of those relations for elderly persons' ability to remain socially and economically integrated.