Care for the aged: FG sets up sections in 40 MDAs

The Federal Government said it has set up at least 40 desks meant specifically for the care of senior citizens in 40 different Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The government explained that the spread of the desk in the 40 MDAs was because no single agency could address the needs of care for aged persons.

The Director-General of the National Senior Citizens Center, Dr Emem Omokaro, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday during an inaugural training programme for Quality Assurance Assessors certification in the Geriatric Social Care Skills Sector.

While the NSCC boss did not list the MDAs where the sections were domiciled, she warned against discrimination and stigmatisation of older persons in various sectors.

Omokaro revealed that the government has developed a Care Quality Assurance System for Nigeria with a national benchmark and minimum standard for the accreditation of care settings.

She said, “No one person, no single ministry can handle ageing alone because what they do is different statutorily. NSCC has dug deep to understand different mandates of relevant agencies, and we went on a very high-level advocacy, meeting technical partnership.

“I want to say that NSCC now has 40 ageing desks in 40 Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Of those partnerships, we ensured that there was a Memorandum of Understanding. As it is now, we have the Ministry of Health and the National Board for Technical Education.”

She added “These are the foundations that the NSCC is laying by working with different professionals bit by bit, by developing the Nigeria Care Quality Assurance System in the country.

“It is a system, that is why we have national policy guidelines on geriatrics social care, quality assurance and Standard Operating Procedures. We also have the national benchmark and minimum standard for the accreditation of care settings with domiciliary in social care agencies.

“Before now, anybody will have permission to do anyhow. Working with the partners, we are bringing standards, and qualities, because our older persons deserve it. It is a right to have care that is appropriate, acceptable and available.”

Omokaro stressed that care for older persons in line with global best practices is a skill that requires training.

“For anyone to have this skill you need to be trained, and for you to be trained, you need training providers.

“So as you have seen here heads of Geriatrics, Consultant Geriatricians, Family Physicians and Nurses from our tertiary institutions, they may have all the knowledge, but they are not certified to assess skills.

“So, these trainees here are nominees of these tertiary institutions who will earn the certification,” she said.

Omokaro in her keynote address at the Humanitarian Service Diamond Awards 2024 in Abuja on Wednesday had said “Ageing is what everybody prays for. It calls for celebration.

“However, there is a very pessimistic attitude about older persons. They are seen as a distraction. This is because there is a wrong perception that the ageing population has nothing to give back. So when opportunities occur in humanitarian delivery efforts, maybe due to limitations in funding, the issue becomes which demography should be considered.

“Of course, once that question is brought up, older persons may be overlooked. Many believe it is a waste because they have nothing to contribute. We are working to change that narrative.”