Half of older persons worldwide deprived of long-term care: ILO report

More than half of the global population aged 65 and above, representing 300 million people, is excluded from long-term care (LTC), said the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Monday.

The most important deficit is observed in Asia and the Pacific where 65 percent of the older population is excluded from access to LTC due to lack of 8.2 million LTC workers, the organization said in its new study unveiled on Monday.

Covering 80 percent of the world population aged 65 and above, the study finds extreme deficits in social protection of older persons in need of LTC due to lack of 13.6 million LTC workers worldwide.

"We face these shortfalls despite the fact that the bulk of care -- up to 80 percent of LTC work -- is provided by unpaid female family members of older persons," said ILO Health Policy Coordinator Xenia Scheil-Adlung.

"Their numbers exceed by far the numbers of formal LTC workers in all countries," noted the ILO expert, who is also the author of the study.

The situation is aggravated by an absolute lack of LTC coverage in most social protection schemes, he said.

"The neglect of vital needs of older persons and the exploitation of unpaid female family members is the result of many years of underinvestment in LTC protection," said Isabel Ortiz, director of the ILO's Social Protection Department.

"Closing the gaps and providing universal LTC coverage would respect the rights and dignity of both older persons and their caregivers and create millions of jobs," said Ortiz.

Meanwhile, the study also noted that only 5.6 percent of the global population lives in countries that provide universal LTC coverage, while more than 48 percent of the world's population is not protected by national LTC legislation.

The study suggested making LTC a top priority on the policy agendas of all countries. Endi