Expert Alerts On Ageing Population

A medical expert, Dr Andy Ukegbu, has raised alarm that Nigeria will have significant number of old people by the year 2050.

He said at an estimated population of 170 million in 2012, Nigeria had about 13 million old people, while more than 38 million Nigerians, would attain the age 60 years and above by 2050.

Ukegbu, a public health physician with the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, made this known in a lecture he delivered at a forum organised to mark the Abia State 2012 Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Physicians’ Week in Umuahia.

“At the global level, the number of old people is projected to increase from about 800 million in 2012 to two billion in 2050.

“The growth is more rapid in developing countries and Nigeria is not an exception.

“It is estimated that by 2025, the population of Nigerians aged 60 and above would be 6 per cent and 9.9 per cent in 2050,’’ he said.

Ukegbu blamed the rise in ageing population on low fertility rate, promotion of contraceptive knowledge and practise, female education and cost of child bearing and rearing among others.

He said there was the need for advocacy for policy changes to raise awareness on the importance of healthy lifestyles to reverse the trend.

Ukegbu who spoke on the topic, “Ageing and Health: The Role of a Medical Doctor’’, said doctors had a lot of role to play in ensuring that ageing population aged actively.

He said they also had the responsibility of building the capacity of the public on promoting fertility, pointing out that in 1998, Nigeria had a fertility rate of 6.1 per cent, but the trend dropped to 5.1 per cent in 2010, adding that the trend was a threat to the workforce of the nation.

For a rising life expectancy, Ukegbu stressed the need for improved care, technology and capacity building in the areas of geriatrics and gerontology.

He also advocated for a restructuring of the health care system, to shift from the present acute care model, toward preventive and more coordinated long-term care.

In another lecture titled, “Dementia Syndromes: An Overview”, Dr Roland Nwanke, said that there was a rise in dementia cases in both developed and developing nations.

Nwanke, a consultant Physician/Neurologist at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, noted that diseases which arise from impairment of cognitive functions, interfere with the ability of the individual to perform activities of daily living.

He said the single strongest risk factor for dementia was advancing age, adding that about 10 per cent of people aged 70 years, clinically had significant memory loss.

Dr George Okwudili, who spoke on “Prostate Cancer: The Scourge of the Elderly’’, said carcinoma of prostate cancer was the most common male malignancy worldwide.

“It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Nigerian males and one of the most common causes of male cancer related deaths.

“It is a major health burden because prostatic diseases are the third most expensive urological disease in the U.S, costing 1.3 billion dollars yearly,” he said.

He listed increasing age, genetic predisposition, race androgens, diet and dietary fat, pattern of sexual behaviour, alcohol consumption and occupational exposure as some of the major risk factors for prostate.