While most developed countries have accepted the chronological age of 65 years to define ‘elderly’ or older person, in Iran women are considered elderly at the age of 58, said Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi.
She pointed to premature aging of Iranian women and said in recent years the age-wise decline fell by 3.3% and has reached 58 years now, ISNA reported.
“The reasons for premature aging include depression and diseases which are more common in women. Women are more vulnerable to some diseases, like depression that is twice as common in women than in men,” she said, stressing that special attention should be given to women’s health programs.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have supplemental health insurance plan for our elderly and studies say that informal family support for this segment of the population will become weaker in the future,” Molaverdi noted.
She also pointed to gender discrimination among older people and said 73% of elderly men live in their own houses as against 27% of elderly women who own homes.
Currently, 10% of the global population is 60 years or older and about 300 million people are deprived of long-term care and services.
She also pointed to the increasing trend of urbanization in the world and said by 2030, out of every 10 people, 6 will live in cities. “Therefore, we should ensure that cities are safer for senior citizens.”
