Nigeria, British varsity partner on health package for elderly

The federal government has accepted a proposal by Birmingham City University, United Kingdom, for partnership on a healthcare package in Nigeria.
The Health Package for Improving Quality Care on Ageing Population and Diseases in Nigeria (HEPIQ-C) seeks to provide a safety net for elderly persons in the country.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when a three-man delegation from the university visited him, said the proposal would improve the quality of care for the aged population.
Adewole said the population profile of Nigeria reveals that the youth constitute 70 per cent, “so the country is looking at the aged and planning for the future.”
“As Nigeria increases in population; definitely the aged population will increase as a result of demographic transition.
“We have a strong social system where the family looks at the aged, but these are bound to collapse as our population expands,” he said.

The minister said the government was committed to advancing the care of the elderly so that they would not feel neglected.
He said the package also involved capacity building for health professionals and strengthening of disease control and prevention.
“We will support it to make it done, we need to have a policy framework, and we need to have a strategic development plan that is costed to drive this concept to fruition.”
Leader of the delegation, Hafiz Khan, said the principal aim of the concept “is to improve access to health of the aged population,” adding that there was “a need to act now before it is too late.”

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