"A bad attitude about ageing not good for health"-WHO


Negative attitudes about ageing can reduce an older person's lifespan by more than seven years, according to research cited by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Ahead of the International Day of Older Persons, observed this Saturday, the UN agency is urging people across the globe to take a stand against stereotyping or discriminating against older people, which is known as ageism.

In a related development, HelpAge Ghana, an NGO, has appealed to the government of Ghana to invest in the speedy promulgation of the Older Persons Act. 

The association has also called on government to continue its active participation in the activities of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing to enable it achieve the objective of agreeing on an International Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. 

The Administrative Coordinator of HelpAge Ghana, Ethel Boakye, expressed these sentiments in an interview with Radio Ghana to mark United Nations Day for Older Persons. 

She said the country cannot continue to approach issues impacting negatively on the quality of life of older people in a lackadaisical manner and assume that giving them hand-outs is a way of addressing issues confronting them.


GBC