Caring for older people is a top priority, says Health Minister Dr Nada Haffadh. Services should be revamped and developed to meet the needs of the increasing number of elderly people in Bahrain, she said. Dr Haffadh was speaking at the opening ceremony of a three-day conference on caring for the elderly, which opened at the Novotel Al Dana Resort yesterday.

The event is being organised by Al Manar for Parents Care Centre in co-operation with Middle-East Academy for Medicine of Ageing.

It is the academy's third session of their first course 2003-2005 to encourage the development of health care services for older people in the Middle East.

More than 30 professionals from Bahrain and abroad are attending the event.
Dr Haffadh stressed the importance of the topics being discussed at the gathering, adding that the care for the elderly definitely needs to be improved.
"The elderly have given so much to the country and to the world. We need to give back," she said.

"We don't want them to just live but to live a quality life."

Dr Haffadh said civil organisations like Al Manar and others need to be supported in their efforts to care for this sector of the society. 

Academy chairperson Dr Abdulrazaq Abyad said the Middle East is ageing rapidly.

"By the year 2025, people over the age of 80 will represent 30 per cent of the world's population," he added. 

Dr Abyad said the aim of the meetings was to shed some light on the problems faced by the elderly.

Dr Abyad said one of their goals is to improve knowledge and skills of professionals, physicians, nurses and health care officers involved with the elderly.

"The theme for this session is Quality for Care," he explained.

"The idea is not only to teach and train people but also to support countries adapt elderly care programmes."

Dr Abyad said the meetings also aim at fostering relations between participants to enable experts to network among each other. 

"For this reason, we make all participants members after their graduation to offer them feedback, positions as speakers and opportunities to take part in special activities in courses which will follow," he said.

Centre chief executive director Fatima Bu Ali gave the doctors who arrived from Holland, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia a briefing on the centre's services and activities .

Ms Bu Ali invited delegates to visit the centre to see how it provides services to about 180 elderly people.

Ms Bu Ali presented Dr Haffadh with a commemorative gift.