Dr Emem Omokaro, the Director General of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) says the centre will continue to collaborate with other relevant agencies to improve the health and well-being of senior citizens in the country.
Omokaro stated this on Wednesday shortly after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Ministry of Health and the NSCC in Abuja.
The MoU was signed during a stakeholder’s engagement on the development of National Benchmark for the training of caregivers to older persons.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the MoU is aimed at developing a National Action Plan on the care of older persons in the Healthcare sector.
She said that the meeting consideref the state of care services for older persons and built a consensus that older persons have a right to dignity and security.
According to her, the centre will ensure the training of caregivers and examine their capacities and their competencies as well as the Care Agency Operators to ensure that effective result was achieved.
The D-G said the centre had carefully considered the relative challenges and the cultural background in line with global best practice.
Omokaro said the centre was determined to deliver a sustainable process and secure care services toward building the ultimate care system for the betterment of older persons in Nigeria.
“ In Nigeria as in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, families provide the majority of care for older persons, the number of older people in Nigeria is growing rapidly.
“The latest survey 2022 by NBS shows an increase of two million from 14.8 million in 2019 and it is expected to double by 30 million in the year 2050.
“ The conflicts of family caregivers and other non-cultural factors with insufficient support systems for older persons, increasing the care burden of a few family caregivers who provide care without any training or support,“ she said.
Also, the representative of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Nasir Sani Gwarzo, commended the centre for mapping out a unique strategy towards achieving healthcare services to older persons in the country.
Gwarzo urged the stakeholders to also consider the plight of older persons “who are victims of natural disasters”.
He, therefore, expressed readiness to support the centre in its determination to deliver quality health for senior citizens in line with its mandate.
Similarly, the representative of the Minister of Health, Dr John Ovuvoroye assured the centre of the ministry’s commitment to providing strong synergy toward achieving improved healthcare for older persons in line with universal health coverage.
Ovuvoroye said the MoU would further strengthen the collaboration with the centre for the benefit of older persons.