Nigeria must enhance preventive care for elderly to reduce burden of preventable diseases, deaths – experts

Experts in the healthcare value chain have warned that Nigeria must enhance preventive care for parents and the elderly, to reduce the burden of preventable diseases and deaths among the country’s aging population.

This was disclosed during a virtual news conference organised by Gerocare, a health-tech company, ahead of its forthcoming fifth anniversary celebration. “Your parents deserve long, fruitful and healthy years in their old age, no matter the village your aged parent lives in, Gerocare will get to them,” Ebi Ofrey, founder, Gerocare, said disclosing that the anniversary activities which would start from Monday August 29 to Friday September 2, would feature a health walk, dance for wellness, health talk, social networking among others.

According to him, care of the elderly should be improved, noting that many Nigerians were losing their parents and elderly to various non-communicable diseases. He states further that geriatric care was inaccessible to many elderly persons in Nigeria, leading to deteriorating health conditions and untimely deaths.

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However, to bridge these health service gaps, Gerocare was formed to provide regular physician home visits for the elderly in preventing deterioration in their health, maintain a healthy state of mind and improve quality of life. “We do this by identifying and managing their health conditions in a timely manner, thereby not only improving their quality of life, but also ensuring peace of mind for both the elderly and their loved ones”.

Ofrey noted that the company since inception had impacted over 115, 000 users and won various international awards including the World Health Organisation Top 30 Africa Health Innovation Award. “The key milestone for us is not the award but every single person that we’ve impacted and prevented from having a stroke or heart attack,” he said.

Ajibola Meraiyebu, co-founder, Gerocare, said subscribers on the company’s platform received regular and detailed updates on their health status, steps to take to prevent illnesses and efficient ways to manage their health.

Speaking on Gerocare’s fifth anniversary celebration, Meraiyebu said that the planned activities reflect the company’s slogan of ‘Care for life’. He noted that the company was working on expanding its footprint to reach more underserved persons and extend its services beyond Nigeria to Ethiopia and South-Africa.

According to him, the company is promoting preventive healthcare through health education and care that reminds the elderly that they are loved and their wellbeing important to their loved ones.