Moldova is facing the aging of the population. Lately, aging is occurring very quickly due to the migration of the working population. Health protection for elderly people is at risk. The topic was discussed at a roundtable discussion on healthy aging, organized by HelpAge International Moldova.

The deputy director of the National Insurance Company in Medicine, Iurie Osoianu, spoke about several programs that support the elderly, including the compensated drugs program. For several years, a diagnostic program has been implemented at the specialized laboratory and primary health care level for the elderly. The CNAM deputy director said that a proper nutrition program is required for people past a certain age.

Natalia Silitrari, head of the Center for Health Promotion and Communication within the National Center for Public Health, said that protecting the health of elderly people is necessary in order to reduce the burden on the health insurance system conditioned by non-communicable diseases and other diseases characteristic for old age.

According to Tatiana Sorocan, HelpAge International Moldova director, Moldova has many arrears in terms of health care and access to health services for the elderly. The analysis and the monitoring reports show that new programs are required, as the present ones do not sufficiently integrate the needs of the elderly.

Rodica Gramma, PhD associate professor at the The School of Public Health "Nicolae Testemitanu", said that the actions currently promoted lack coherent development in order to achieve concrete results. The planned actions are rather spontaneous and don't have a comprehensive approach to change of certain behaviors and attitudes that increase health risks for the elderly.

No actions have been identified that would promote physical activity and sport adjusted to the particularities of adults or persons with special needs. Additionally, the involvement of each actor that is responsible for the necessary resources is not clear. Most activities are limited to providing information and raising awareness, said Rodica Gramma.

According to HelpAge recommendations, it is necessary to determine the targets for each action and promote the intersectoral approach and to involve all authorities indicated in the program. Experts also recommend dividing the programs into chapters dedicated to problems by age category, thus planning activities for each objective based on the particularities of the needs of each age group, including the particularities of the needs of the elderly.

At the beginning of 2019, 558.4 thousand people aged 60 years and over lived in the Republic of Moldova, which constituted 20.8% of the total population. About 60% of the total number of elderly people are women. Each third person is aged between 60 and 64 years, while 11.3% are persons over 80 years old.