Participants in the Gulf Symposium for diseases of the elderly and care of the aged made recommendations to criminalize acts of violence against fragile citizens, maintaining that such acts affect their dignity and humanity.
The participants said also that any person who refrains from offering the proper care and attention to the elderly should be punished.
The symposium was organized by the Executive Bureau of the Council of Labor Ministers and Social Affairs Ministers under the auspices of Dr. Fatima Al Balushi, minister of Social Development in Bahrain.
The recommendations submitted at the conclusion of the symposium stressed on the importance of developing special legislations in this regard in Gulf States that lack such laws.
National committees should be set up as well to care for the elders and senior citizens. These committees should be active and effective in fields of planning and coordinating with the various agencies, public and private, that are charged with the task of taking care of the elders.
Other recommendations included conducting periodical medical test for this segment of citizens, offering them reduced prices in health and medical services and aid equipment, and when using public transportation and air tickets.
Mahmoud Hafez, director of the Department of Social Affairs in the Executive Bureau said that the United Nations estimate the proportion of elderly will rise to 10 percent of the total population, and to 22 percent in 2050.
Meanwhile, proportion of children under 15 years old will drop from 30 percent to 20 percent.
“This will lead to many problems on the economic and social levels,” he added.
Participants also made recommendations for the establishment of institutions for the care of the elderly, by both the state and civil society organizations, as well as the private sector.
Abuse of elderly should constitute a crime
