Senior citizens promised modern health benefits

Efforts made to ensure well-being and dignity of senior citizens

PESHAWAR: Senior citizens will soon enjoy modern health and other facilities on a par with other welfare states across the world, officials of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health department insisted.

The provincial government, they said, was doing this to ensure well-being and dignity of senior citizens.

“Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizens Act, 2014, has already been enacted for ensuring the welfare of senior citizens … The new law ensures privileges of a senior citizen even without the senior citizens card.”

According to health department officials, Sub-section C, D and E of Section 9 of the Act calls for setting up separate counters for senior citizens in hospitals, offering concessions in addition to establishing separate medical wards for them.

The health department, they said, was already working on a healthcare strategy for the elderly in a bid to make their lives comfortable and minimise their problems.

“Community geriatric nursing care, mental health and day-care centres are being planned … We are trying to avoid setting up live-in old homes.”

“Other facilities being planned are management of chronic multiple illnesses, hospices and health promotion strategies, focusing on life-long well-being.”

All health facilities directly under control of the health department have been ordered to set up separate counters for senior citizens, minimise the cost of treatment and medicines.

They have also been ordered to set up separate medical wards for senior citizens.

These units should also establish separate out-patient department (OPD) counters for all 60-plus citizens,” official documents stated.

In case of shortage of space and influx of patients, such citizens should get preferential treatment.

Health department officials maintained that the department was moving a summary, calling for partial or full waiver of OPD and admission charges in all facilities under the control of the health department.

The department also ordered all health and other designated facilities to display boards, detailing services offered exclusively for the benefit of senior citizens.