President Bhandari calls for reverence for older persons;  Home health checkup service for senior citizens

Kathmandu / Oct 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged one and all to honour and revere the senior citizens as well as to emulate their good values and works, arguing that they are repositories of experience and wisdom.

In press statement issued by Office of the President on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons here today, President Bhandari wished peace, prosperity and dignified life to all the elderly people across the country.

Suggesting to utilizing the wisdom, experience, skills and social contributions of senior citizens for nation-building, Bhandari argued that senior citizens were the invaluable asset of the nation.

“The importance of the International Day of Older Persons lies in the fact that new generation enables an environment wherein the elderly people are revered, their contributions are acknowledged and their achievements are celebrated,” the President said in a message.

Furthermore, the Head-of-the State in the message underscored the need for the elderly people to transfer good values to the younger generations.

She also commended the provisions for social security schemes for the senior citizens incorporated in the constitution of Nepal.

The United Nations’ International Day of Older Persons is celebrated annually on October 1 to recognize the contributions of older persons and to examine the issues that affect their lives.

According to the census 2011, the total population of the senior citizen in the country is 8.14 per cent.

Home health checkup service for senior citizens

Meanwhile, Syangja’s Andhikhola Rural Municipality has starting providing healthcare services for the aged/senior citizens, reaching their doorsteps.

The Rural Municipality has, as a pilot plan, operated a health clinic at the ward no 6, putting the population over 60 years of age first, according to Rural Municipality Chief Sudhir Kumar Poudel. He said they had been thinking to expand this facility gradually to other wards as well. The clinic was brought into operation in coordination with the local health post.

Clinic staff will visit the home of around 400 aged populations at the ward once a month for medical checkup and will distribute general medicines free of cost if necessary. Aged people are more vulnerable to health complications and they cannot easily travel to health facilities during complications, and the clinic was operated for their convenience, Poudel added. (RSS)