Invest More In Geriatrics Care - Senior Citizen

Mr Festus Guh, a retired Superintendent of Police, has appealed to government to invest more in geriatrics care in the country. Geriatrics is the process of planning and coordinating care of the elderly to ensure they are given quality care and their health is sustained as long as possible. Mr Guh was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at a luncheon in Ho on Monday, Republic Day, in honour of the elderly. During the Day, dubbed �Senior Citizens Day,� government agencies fete selected elderly people at luncheons across the country. Mr Guh said the situation where at some hospitals in the country, the elderly jostle with others at Out Patients Departments for folders was not appropriate. He said there was the need for many more doctors and nurses, specialized in health care for the aged, to be designated to see the aged at the health institutions. Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, Volta Regional Minister, urged the senior citizens to form think tanks to provide inputs into development planning at all levels. He said the help of elderly was needed to tackle the declining morals among the youth and the obsession among Ghanaians to get rich quickly. Mr Afotey-Agbo said government was working towards increasing the benefits of the aged under the national health insurance scheme. As part of the luncheon, all invitees were taken through various health checks including eye screening, blood pressure and blood sugar levels tests. Dr Winfred Ofosu, Deputy Director of Health at the Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, told the GNA that a number of them, who were found to have very high blood pressures, were given some medication and treatment. He said the health team also sought from the senior citizens information about their health status and it is aimed at identifying prevailing age related conditions. Dr Ofosu said some had been referred to the Volta Regional Hospital, whose personnel undertook the screening, for further attention.