INDIA: Chandigarh Seniors Seek Specialised Geriatric Centre

CHANDIGARH (The Indian Express), October 14, 2007: Chandigarh’s sizable elderly population feels there is need for a specialised geriatric health centre despite the availability of ample health facilities. Many senior citizens suffer from multiple health problems. They also suffer because of limited mobility and prefer to be self-dependent. Hospitals need to be more sensitive towards their needs, they feel. "It is a tough situation for elderly who suffer from more than one health problem," said A. K. Ummat, chairman, Sai Tara Ummat Foundation, an NGO working for the benefit of the elderly. "Government hospitals are so crowded that the elderly wait their turn for hours. This is tortuous at their age," Ummat said. "Most of them live alone and are on pension, cannot afford private healthcare, especially for multi discipline care," he said. Two hospitals in Chandigarh run geriatric clinics, but the facilities are far from adequate. "We need hospitals that are more sensitive to the needs of the elderly. Treatment and counselling should be part of hospital visits, said Mr. K.K. Joshi, general secretary of Defence Services Civilian, a pensioner welfare association. "We also want that more hospitals should be empanelled to the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). For instance, as far as cardiac problems go we only have Post Graduate Instititute under CGHS and everyone knows how crowded it is," Joshi said. "Most emergencies require cardiac care and then we have only one option," he added. There are 77 million elderly in India and the number is rising. In contrast, there is no department of geriatric medicine in any hospital in the country. "The elderly have multiple problems. Moreover, handling of drugs, response to drugs, drug dosage, time of recovery after procedures is completely different in the elderly," said Dr S. C. Verma, Head of Internal Medicine at PGI. "For this, we need people who understand the problems of the elderly and therefore, there is acute need of developing a different department of geriatric medicine," he said. The geriatrics department would consist of doctors of all specialities and cross referral of patients would become convenient. "The elderly complain about long queues and running from one department to another. One department dedicated to geriatrics would solve that," said Dr Verma. The PGI has a holistic geriatric department, but the plan is still in the initial stages, he said. By Swaha Sahoo © 2007 Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd