QIC, CFAS launch National Ageing Summit
Quality Insurance Company (QIC) in partnership with the Centre for Ageing Studies (CFAS) of the Colleges of Humanities at the University of Ghana, has launched the maiden edition of the National Ageing Summit to highlight the needs, challenges and contributions of the elderly in our society.
Scheduled to take place in December 2022, on the theme: “Redefining ageing: Celebrating the resiliency of the Ghanaian elderly”, the summit will discuss resilience in old age, its relevance to successful ageing, and how individuals and government could help older persons to curb challenges that confront them.
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It also seeks to remind the society about the important role older people play in traversing global and national difficulties and contributing to their remedies with resilience and strength.
At the media launch in Accra, the Director of the Centre for Ageing Studies Prof. Mavis Dako-Gyeke, said available evidence indicated that not only were developed and developing countries experiencing a rise in the number of older persons, but they also experienced the social, economic and health issues that were associated with the phenomenon.
According to her, older persons in Ghana continued to be susceptible to several physical, psychological, economic and health adversities that could be detrimental to their well-being.
Additionally, the contributions of older persons in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres of the society were often disregarded.
“Prejudice based on one’s age and gender, as well as other ageism-related practices also worsen inequalities for older persons in Ghana and in their quest to overcome the difficulties they encounter in old age, older adults resort to diverse coping strategies to enable them to be resilient,” she said.
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She encouraged all relevant entities to create awareness of resilience among older persons, placing focus on the optimal realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the benefit of older persons and ensuring the availability, design, connectivity, capacity building, affordability, infrastructure and innovation for the population.
Prof. Dako-Gyeke added that the government and other stakeholders should make efforts to explore the use of policies and legal regulations to enhance the quality of life of older persons.
Supporting the aged
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quality Insurance Company, Kwabena Addison, said his outfit was committed to supporting the aged with innovative insurance products to enhance their livelihood, especially in those challenging times.
“As an insurance company, we are in this world to make profit but can we make profit if people are not happy? Let’s be minded that the baby boomers who are all more than 60 years old have the most disposable income.
“And this is the generation we are talking about. We need to make them happy so that we can also take advantage of some of their disposable income with our insurance products,” he said.