JAMAICA’S public health sector must be prepared to deal with the reality that the population of people 60 years and older is predicted to be larger than the young by 2058, with a rate of increase faster than decline.

Facing this reality, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton said we are experiencing a demographic transition, and public health must be prepared to respond.

He was speaking Tuesday during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate at Gordon House.

Tufton highlighted that the older population in Jamaica is the fastest-growing age group, increasing at approximately 1.9 per cent annually — from 264,772 to 364,200 — between 2001 and 2030. He said the number of dependent older persons (65 years and older) was estimated at 199,478 (7.7 per cent) in 2001 and is expected to increase to 321,664 (11.2 per cent) in 2030. The working age will reach its maximum in 2025 at about 66.5 per cent of the total population.

“This shift underscores the need to prepare for an ageing population and adapt societal structures — including the workforce and health care systems — to address the evolving demographic landscape,” said the minister.

It is against this background that the Government is actively developing what it calls the Health Programme for Older Persons plan.

The objectives of the plan are:

• To maximise the period in which older persons maintain good health, wellness, and functional independence through the promotion of healthy ageing throughout the life course.

• To build the capacity of at least 90 per cent of health care practitioners in primary care so as to identify and manage health care needs in older adults.

• To provide allied health and rehabilitative services to older persons with complex health and disability needs.

Tufton explained that under the primary health care reform model, the health and wellness ministry, “will roll out the training of health care providers this year so that over the next two years we can establish basic screening for functional capacity as part of core services”.

“We will establish clinics for more detailed assessments and the development of personalised care plans and care pathways, to ensure that the older person maximises their potential,” he added.

He told the House that while expanding rehabilitative and palliative care services in primary care over the next two years, the ministry intends to establish at least three physiotherapy sites in primary care in the first phase.

“This will allow easier access for older persons with chronic illnesses like stroke and other disorders that affect mobility,” said Tufton.

He reminded that in 2019 the ministry started the Neuropsychiatry Clinic at Kingston Public Hospital to manage clients with mental disorders caused by brain dysfunction such as dementia.

“This plan is now to expand neuropsych clinic services through telehealth, providing case conferences, especially for rural areas,” he said.