Anambra State on Saturday joined other States of the federation to celebrate the National Day of Older Persons with a call for a greater attention to the elderly and to avoid all forms of unwholesome practices towards the aged.
The call came from the Anambra State Commissioner for Special Duties, Rt. Hon. Barrister Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche during a ceremony to mark the Day held at the Awka City Stadium.
The celebration which featured health walk and talks, medical outreach and novelty football match for the aged, was organized by the State Ministry of Special Duties in collaboration with the National Senior Citizens Centre, and National Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Ageing (NNSCFOA), Anambra State chapter.
The National Day of Older Persons was approved in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to be celebrated in Nigeria every October 5, as the date for the international celebration on October 1 coincided with the Independence Day Celebration in Nigeria.
The Day calls stakeholders to action and creates awareness on the peculiar challenges facing elderly persons today especially in their social care and access to qualitative healthcare.
Delivering a keynote speech on the theme of the celebration, “Celebrating the Value of Older Persons and the Integral Role They Play: Recognizing the Places and the People that Remove the Barriers”, Commissioner Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche said the event marks the beginning of deliberate collaborations to mainstream public policies towards the welfare for the aged in the State.
The Commissioner said her Ministry in line with theme ‘make Anambra a place were barriers against elderly care are dismantled,’ has set up the Anambra State Technical Team on Ageing to facilitate a multi-sectoral and multi-ministerial policy document that will operationalize social care for the elderly.
Earlier, the Chairman, National Senior Citizens Centre’s National Consultative Forum on Ageing, Anambra State, NNSCFOA, Iyom Josephine Anenih who also doubles as the Chairman, Anambra State Technical Team on Ageing, ASTTOA, decried the neglect for older persons and said that a strategic, sustainable, and implementable plan of action is needed to help create a safer and more inclusive society for the aged.
In a health talk, the Managing Director, Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, (ASHIA), Dr Simeon Onyemaechi represented by Ms Nneoma Anoliefo harped on the importance of exercise to the health of the aged, asking families to provide necessary moral and social support needed for their elderly to age with dignity.
A major attraction during the event was the free registration of ten elderly persons that attended the event under the ASHIS, who were selected through a raffle draw, to enjoy subsidized healthcare services in any hospital of their choice in the State.
