Vice President says the government has a special focus on the elderly in the society

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has said the government had a special focus on the elderly in the society. He made the remarks, speaking at a function held at Artificial Beach, this afternoon, by the Manfaa Centre of Ageing to mark this year’s World Elders’ Day.

Speaking in this regard, the Vice President said one of the first priorities of this government was to provide a pension to everyone above the age of 65, and subsequently making access to healthcare affordable for the elderly. He noted that these showed the government’s benevolence towards the elderly in our society.

Stressing that ageing should not be a reason for isolation from society, but rather the Vice President said, we should encourage the elderly to be actively engaged in the society.

Dr Waheed said seeing our senior citizens, who have rendered their valuable service to the country, living in hardship was reprehensible. Further, he said it was a duty on the government and the society to provide means for a dignified life for all senior citizens.

Concluding his remarks, the Vice President said our resolve should be to improve the services we provide to the elderly, and assured that the government would continue to collaborate with civil society organisations, such as the Manfaa Centre on Ageing, to further develop the services it provide for the elderly in our society.