The Dominica Council on Ageing (DCOA) plans a pilot insurance scheme for senior citizens in the country. Council President Ophelia Marie said the former council leadership planned the program but could not execute it. She said the current leadership has approved the scheme and it will be run on pilot to see how it will turn out.
“The vibrant senior citizens are looking at a pilot for health insurance for seniors. It has already been endorsed by the council under the last President,” DCOA President Marie said. “It is moving slowly but we are looking to link with partners locally and abroad to see if something can happen.”
Marie decried the way senior citizens are suffering across the country and the way people treat them with disdain. She said many people maltreat the elderly because they are frail and vulnerable with nobody to stand up for them. According to the council president, caregivers pull the hair of old people, push them down, beat them, and also deny them TV time for their favorite programs. Unfortunately, most of those abusing the elderly are family members and those paid to care for them.
To make matters worse, the abused elderly citizens do not report their abusers so that the authorities can avenge them by prosecuting their attackers. Sometimes, abusers even force senior citizens to polling booths to vote for political candidates contrary to who the old people want.
DCOA advisor, Colin Bully, identified loneliness as one of the troubles confronting old people across the country. The council executive noted the fact that the children of senior citizens abandon them in their old age and this causes elderly people to fear for their lives. To this extent, many elderly people lack the money to care for themselves and survival becomes a big ordeal. In fact, some even fear for when they die thinking there might not be money to bury them.
Bully said this month of September which is billed to celebrate and outline developmental plans for old people is very crucial to the survival of senior citizens. He urged political leaders to include senior citizens in their economic plans so that life can be easier for them. He said senior citizens and disabled people should be given a voice in government as well as included in decision-making processes with a view to advancing the sovereign destiny of the nation.
Yvonne Alexander, an executive member of the council, equally urged all public bus drivers and civil servants to treat elderly people with respect. She decried a situation where she saw a driver push out an old man who complained of lack of air-conditioner in the vehicle. He reminded everyone to be conscious of the fact that they will grow old one day and so treat senior citizens with all respect and honor.
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