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The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) Ghana has announced its readiness to collaborate with government and all stakeholders to ensure healthy lives in the country. Dr Kwasi Odoi-Agyarko, National President, made the declaration in a nine-point communiqu� during a press conference to end the Society�s 35th annual general congress on Sunday in Sunyani. The communiqu� declared that �the Society is prepared and willing to engage the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ghana Health Services, the Social Welfare and all stakeholders with a view to helping to improve the lot of the aged�. The four-day congress, under the theme �Healthy Ageing�, attracted about 150 participants and it was aimed at bringing all stakeholders together to promote good health in the society. It was also a learning platform for participants to identify the changing trends in health delivery services and to refresh and update their knowledge base. It said following deliberation on the theme, the SPMDP proposed that �all health care practitioners and policy makers must consistently remain mindful of the link between population ageing and its demographic, economic and financial implications�. The communiqu� called for the transformation of the nation�s social pension systems saying the Society appreciated that the government would need to make hard choices to make it meaningful for all retirees. It said as the MoH prepared documents to inform government�s policy directions for the elderly, the Society wished to place its expertise at the disposal of the Ministry and all other stakeholders involved in the process. The communiqu� urged the MoH to actively encourage and build capacity both in the private and public sectors and in the areas of geriatric and palliative medicine, adding that �centres of excellence should be built in all regional capitals to take care of the aged, with a combined team of public and private practitioners manning them�. It said �all health facilities and buildings for social gathering or mobilization in the country be architecturally friendly to the aged� while laws must also be enacted for future infrastructural developments to meet the demand of the aged. The communiqu� called on government to establish rehabilitation and day care centres for the elderly and stressed that �the nation�s pension benefit plans must take into consideration the views of the aged and elderly�.