According to a survey conducted in 2020-2021, over 30,000 aged need medical attention while 10, 000 are suffering from eye problems, says Mohamed S Bah, Chief Executive Officer, Health Care for the Aged.
Bah made the disclosure during the commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons at the Freetown City Hall on Saturday 1st October, 2022.
The theme for the celebration was 'Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World'.
The commemoration was done by the Ministry of Social Welfare in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Platform for the Welfare of the Aged (SiLPWA), Focus 1000 and Dorwontony Organisation for the Aged (DoFA).
"We are celebrating today as older persons, but we are not happy, so we are pleading with the Minister to take this message to cabinet for them to transform this celebration by giving us fund for older people because base on a survey we conducted in 2020-2022, it show that 30,000 of the aged needs medical attention and 10, 000 are suffering from eye problem," Bah said.
He recalled a tragic incident at Moriba Community in 2016, where he witnessed a pregnant woman being carried in a blanket to the hospital because the community lacks hospital.
Bah continued that while some of the Moriba youth were carrying the pregnant woman, they slipped and fell down together with her, leading to miscarriage and death of the pregnant woman. "That was when I decided to build a health centre in the community," Bah narrated.
Mohamed Bah continued that considering the general situation of the aged in the country, it is a call for the government to know that older persons needs urgent medical attention.
He added that Africa's older population continued to be overlooked even though Africa Union has urged all it members to put in place policy measure to protect and address the need of the older population, yet still most countries are not doing it.
He continued that since 2016 to date, his organisation has worked and provided medical assistance to 2, 900 people in different parts of the country which has not been an easy task for them and they have not yet received any support from the government or NGOs.
He said they have conducted 559 surgeries on older persons, admitted 36 at Connaught hospital, conducted 274 surgeries to older persons across the country, but all this bills are funded by them.
"I want the government to know that older persons are suffering and they need support, we are therefore calling on the government to allocate budget to us working on older persons because they have contributed greatly to the development of this country," he said
Chief Executive Officer for Focus 1000 and Chairman for Older persons, Mohamed B. Jalloh said October 1st was a wonderful day for older persons because old is blessing, so he thanked God for given them the opportunity to celebrate the day of the older persons in the country.
He said before the commemoration, individual organizations were helping the aged, but he called on them to come together to work with the Ministry of Social Welfare for them to support older persons in the country.
He continued that when his organisation was created, he was working with children, but he think that older persons also need support, so he decided to work with King Georges home for them to live a better life.
During the celebration, Mr Jalloh advised older persons to always check their pressure, sugar and they should take their medication and they should take good care of the children also younger people should also take care for their parents.
"We need a policy that will support us, so am calling on the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labour to come together to make sure that there is a policy for us older persons for us not to live a miserable life. We also need housing, free health care, transportation among others," he said.
Giving the Keynote address, Minister of Social Welfare, Baindu Dassama-Kamara congratulates and thanked older persons for the time they have spent on Earth.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She said the president is concerned about the aged because he too would one day be an old person, adding that the celebration is important because they are celebrating other people, but they have not yet celebrated the day of the aged, so she is happy that older people can now be celebrated as they have set October 1st for older people.
The Minister advised older people not to live in areas that have been abandoned by the government. She asked them to make their lives meaningful. She said older people need service, but that they need to work together to provide that service proper.
"This day is to raise awareness for older people who have contributed meaningful to the development of our nation and for them to stand on their own as older people so they would live a comfortable life, therefore we would continue to work with other organizations to cater for older people by taking them off from the street," she said.
