Increase support for elderly - Nana Oye Lithur

A Former Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur has tasked government to strengthen its support services towards the aged to improve their living conditions.

According to her, the welfare of the aged must be prioritised by government in order not to see old age as a curse.

Nana Oye Lithur was speaking as the Guest of Honour at a ceremony to mark the celebration of International day for the Elderly at the AYA Community Centre at Ambainu in the Ellembelle District.

The global theme for the occasion was "Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions" and was organised under the auspices of the Member of Parliament and Founder of the centre, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.

The Gender Advocate said before the NDC government left office, it considered the elderly welfare Card which could afford the aged the opportunity to get on board public transport free of charge and challenged the NPP administration to emulate the shining example of Mr.Kofi Buah and replicate the elderly Care Centre in all the Districts of Ghana.

Mr Kofi Buah urged government to initiate good social intervention policies for the elderly to make them comfortable in society and to institute a housing scheme for the elderly since the 2010 census pointed to the fact that about 71 percent of older persons were either homeless or perching with others

Mr.Buah asked government to increase its budget proposal for the elderly and the disabled and appealed to society to disabuse the mentality that the aged were evil, witches and wizards and take good care of them.

The MP reminded workers at the AYA Community Centre to work whole-heatedly to cater for the needs of the elderly.

A Public Health Nurse at the St. Martin's De Porres Hospital at Eikwe, Madam Grace Enyan said old age was associated with several deformities and asked the elderly to seek medical attention to keep the body functioning.

She advised society to feed the elderly with the right amount of nutrients to improve their health status.

The Paramount Chief of Nsein Traditional Area, Awulae Agyevi Kwame, who chaired the function, asked society to vote for selfless politicians who would make the welfare of their communities their topmost priority like.

He appealed to people in the area to rally behind the MP to accelerate development in the area.