Over the past few years, the world’s population has continued on its remarkable transition path from a state of high birth and death rates to one characterized by low birth and death rates. At the heart of this transition has been the growth in the number and proportion of older persons. Such a rapid, large and ubiquitous growth has never been seen in the history of civilization. The current demographic revolution is predicted to continue well into the coming centuries.

With a comparatively young population, India is still poised to become home to the second largest number of older persons in the world. Projection studies indicate that the number of 60+ in India will increase to 198 million in 2030.

Irrespective of socio-economic status, the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) requiring large quantum of health and social care are extremely common in old age. Disabilities resulting from these NCDs are very frequent, which affects the activities of daily living. The management of these chronic diseases is also very costly, especially for cancer treatment, joint replacements, heart surgery, neurosurgical procedures etc., thereby making it out of pocket for elderly persons.

The National Programme for Health Care for the Elderly (NPHCE) is a modest attempt by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to address this issue by way of introducing a comprehensive health care set up completely dedicated and tuned to the needs of the elderly. The interventions are designed to capture the Preventive, Curative and rehabilitative aspects in the geriatric field.

The Vision

• To provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality long-term, comprehensive and dedicated care services to an Ageing population
• Creating a new “architecture” for Ageing
• To build a framework to create an enabling environment for "a Society for all Ages"
• To promote the concept of Active and Healthy Ageing

As per the NPOP, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare was entrusted with the following agenda to attend to the health care needs of the elderly:

• Establishing Geriatric ward for elderly patients at all district level hospitals
• Expansion of treatment facilities for chronic, terminal and degenerative diseases
• Providing Improved medical facilities to those not able to attend medical centers – strengthening of CHCs / PHCs / Mobile Clinics
• Inclusion of geriatric care in the syllabus of medical courses including courses for nurses
• Reservation of beds for elderly in public hospitals
• Training of Geriatric Care Givers
• Setting up research institutes for chronic elderly diseases such as Dementia & Alzheimer