In demonstration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s vision to create an inclusive society, Anambra State Government through her Ministry of Special Duties, the National Senior Citizens Centre National Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Ageing, NNSCFOA, Anambra State and Alzhemiers Disease Foundation, ADF have partnered to mark the National Day of Older Persons in Anambra State.
The celebration was marked with health walk and talks; medical outreach and novelty football match for the aged at Awka City Stadium.
The National Day of Older Persons was approved in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to be celebrated in Nigeria every October 5 because 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”, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Hon. Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche said the celebration is historic as it 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.
Collaborating, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, explained that the Soludo administration understands that every society is as strong as its weakest link, as such has been investing heavily to shore up the welfare of the vulnerable, people living with disabilities, the poor, women and children.
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 stated that a strategic, sustainable, and implementatable plan of action is needed to help create a safer and more inclusive society for the aged.
Giving a health talk to the elderly who attended the event, 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.
The elderly persons were joined in their health walk by dignitaries who attended the event including the Commissioner for Budgets and Economic Planning, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake; her Youth Development counterpart, Mr Patrick Agha Mba; Chairman, Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr Vera Nwadinobi; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth Development, Dr Martin Agbili; Managing Director, Anambra State Waste Management Authority, ASWAMA, Mr Mike Ozoemena; and the Executive Secretary, Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency, ANSPHCDA, Pharm. Chisom Uchem.
Others were the Managing Director, Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS Mr Chris Molokwu represented by the Director of News and Current Affairs Department of ABS, Mrs Judy Jeff-Nwabueze; the Director, Research Centre for Ageing and Psychological Health, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Rita Ugokwe-Joseph; Chairman, Red Cross Society, Anambra State, Prof. Charity Emelie; the Chairman, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, Anambra State, Dr Irene Okeke and the State Woman Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Mrs Esther Onyekesi.
ASHIA also registered for free ten elderly persons that attended the event selected through a raffle draw into its Anambra State Health Insurance Scheme, ASHIS to enjoy subsidized health care services in any hospital of their choice in the state.
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