By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin
A former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Josephine Anenih has advocated the need for a functional Health Insurance policy for weak and aged Nigerians.
She stressed that it would help to ward-off and manage ailments such as high blood pressure, Arthritis and dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s which are associated with old people in society.
Mrs. Anenih revealed this during a meeting with the Edo State branch of Old People’s Association of Nigeria (OPAN) yesterday in Benin.
“The government at all levels must think seriously about the plight of old people and fathom out ways to take care of them.
“There should be health insurance for elderly people. They need love.
They need companionship and love and should not be abandoned”, she said.
The Septuagenarian also advised that the government gh the relevant bodies to provide free medical services to the elderly, especially the vulnerable ones.
The ex-national woman leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who recently marked her 72th Birthday, however, decried a situation whereby aged parents are abandoned and left to their fate in the sunset of their lives.
She also appealed to children to learn to get close to their parents as it is not enough to just dump them at Old People’s Home and pay their bills.
According to her, “loneliness can kill. It can lead to dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s.
“Children should create time to be their parents when they are old.
That is the best way to prolong their lives”, he said.
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