Small Group Discussion – Bright Orange One thing that has been missing from discussions today is mention of the responsibility of older people themselves “We do not wish to be a burden on our children and part of our duty as individuals is to understand what is happening to us as we grow older and to plan for our later life. And as someone who is approaching this my wife and I are actively planning” We should not rely on family to care for us Recommendation: We need to empower the individual Call with health literacy and social literacy

LTC is not explicitly defined or explained Legal framework debate this morning show that there is quite a lot of instruments such as WHO GSAP, SDG but a gap between these instruments and what policies exist LTC is not explicitly defined or explained Eg Africa health strategy Lots of initiatives arising in Africa such as age friendly communities and cities but few countries are planning with ageing in mind How can we incorporate LTC needs and support for OP How are we interacting with planners and policy makers to make sure that LTC responsibility doesn't just rest with family Recommendation: to make LTC more explicit in policies at national and regional level and targeting AU to take leadership and guidance on this

Works in private sector health service provision in Nairobi To dive care it has to be affordable, currently it is not affordable for vast majority of population There is no training currently available in Kenya, no training facility, so even if interest exist then no opportunity to fill this service gap Recommendation: when policy makers make polices we should include insurance companies in this debate We should incentivize geriatric profession, such as free training

AU and at policy level: AU protocol on ageing Recommendation: In order to take this forward, for MS to buy into ageing issues Need to align with AU themes; next year on demographic dividend and youth We need to frame debate in terms of AU priority themes; youth and job creation This will show MS why it is key for ageing issues to be taken very seriously

Challenges: What is missing in African setting is human resources We talk of geriatrics but omit social workers, community workers and these need to be included in current curricula so that we can build the human resources needed for LTC (Recommendations)

Debate of who is responsible – overall ageing and LTC We need economic modeling to show why governments need to invest in certain topics Solution: should provide cost-benefit analysis, not only on cost but also on quality of life as this is what governments care about E.g. HPV vaccine was pitched to government in terms of cost-benefit that SA could not afford treatment that would be required if we do not roll out vaccine. So investment in research was found to be beneficial in the long run Will show how we reduce financial dependence on government if we can improve OP’s capacity Debate of who is responsible – overall ageing and LTC We have repeatedly heard that it's a multi-sectorial responsibility This (at least in SA) requires a decision at the cabinet level where government takes stance that this is everyone’s responsibility We need data to prove this

Data on situational analysis Example of aggressive attack on HIV in Botswana We need to address ageing in this way Ensure that in each ministry there is a focal point (desk on ageing) Collaboration between FBO, privately hired and government and provide them with training Recommendation: integrating services under one ministry If one gives allowance, social protection, health etc then no one is responsible and a lot of passing the bag at the moment

Policies need to meet needs of short and long-term Inter-sectorial: legal status of older people has been missing from debate, especially around people with cognitive impairments Legal status of older people requiring LTC needs more attention Policies need to meet needs of short and long-term Lacking in SA: instruments to ensure compliance of government (eg. signature to many conventions such as MIPPA) but how do we ensure these are implemented/enforcement of the conventions and treaties most of our governments have signed on? Recommendation: policy needs to be a collaborative between sectors but also needs to be multi-level for different stages of care

Most relatives know more than us (trained doctors and nurses) than what we know Family is an asset/resources on which we should build upon Recommendation: We need to invest more in families to help OP and help themselves