Publication: Silver Opportunity: Case Studies - Time to Focus on Healthy Aging: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for Bangladesh
Loading...
Date
2023-08-24
ISSN
Published
2023-08-24
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Bangladesh is home to one of the largest populations of older adults in the world. Driven by increasing life expectancy at birth, this population is increasing. By 2040,one in five Bangladeshis will be 60 years old or older. The increase in lifespan isaccompanied by a greater burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), whichaccount for 70 percent of all deaths in the country. These chronic conditions tend toaffect older adults, leading to an increased demand for health care services by thisgroup. NCDs are also expensive to treat, placing financial hardship on families in low resource settings. While the Government of Bangladesh has committed to providing many of the basic rights of older adults, the health care needs of older adults remain unmet. A lack of adequate funding and services point to a need for a health care system that caters to the specific needs of older adults, such as long-term care and consolidation of care. Other supportive structures also appear to be missing, such as a health insurance fund that covers common chronic conditions faced by older adults, which would remove barriers to accessing health care. A bill proposing a pension scheme is currently undergoing approval in Bangladesh’s legislative system. The primary health care (PHC) system, too, is geared toward the treatment of acuteillnesses rather than providing older Bangladeshis with integrated, long-term, people centered care. This study aimed to better understand the current capacity of PHC inBangladesh to provide care oriented towards older persons. The authors carried outa desk review of global and Bangladeshi literature on aging populations, followed bystakeholder consultations and key informant interviews with government officials,health professionals, and developmental organizations. Field visits to PHC facilitieswere also carried out to assess whether they met the internationally accepted criteriafor age-friendly infrastructure. The data were compiled and analyzed according to theFIRE framework (Financing, Innovation, Regulation, Evaluation) for older adult care.Despite the large burden of NCDs, only USD0.82 is spent per capita on NCD control,much lower than the USD1.50 recommended by the World Health Organization(WHO). Increasing spending on NCD management can help alleviate the financial pressure on households to care for older adults.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2023. Silver Opportunity: Case Studies - Time to Focus on Healthy Aging: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for Bangladesh. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40263 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Silver Opportunity(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2023)We live in a rapidly aging world, in which people who are age 60 and older outnumber children under the age of five. This book reveals large and growing gaps in care for older adults in countries at all income levels and shows how to leverage reforms for improving health outcomes for older adults and create healthier, more prosperous communities. Aimed at policy makers and other health and development stakeholders who want to promote healthier aging, Silver Opportunity compiles the latest evidence on care needs and gaps for aging populations. It argues that primary health care should be the cornerstone of integrated service delivery for older people, but that primary health care systems must first build their capacity to respond to older people's health needs. It presents an original framework for policy action to advance primary health care–centered, integrated senior care; documents the experiences of pioneering countries in delivering community-based care to older people; and provides recommendations for decision-makers. The framework presents four policy levers with which to improve health care for seniors—financing, innovation, regulation, and evaluation and measurement—or FIRE. Finally, the book posits that by acting now, countries can leverage population aging to accelerate progress toward health equity and universal health coverage.Publication Toward a Healthy and Harmonious Life in China(Washington, DC, 2011)China's 12th five-year plan (2011-2015) aims to promote inclusive, equitable growth and development by placing an increased emphasis on human development. Good health is an important component of human development, not only because it makes people's lives better, but also because having a healthy and long life enhances their ability to learn, acquire skills, and contributes to society. Indeed, good health is a fundamental right of every human being. Good health among a population can also enhance economic performance by improving labor productivity and reducing economic losses that arise from illnesses. The findings and recommendations can inform and promote a broad dialogue toward the development of a multisectoral response to effectively address the growing burden of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including a better alignment of the health system with the population's health needs. The report also advocates implementing 'health in all' policies and actions for a multisectoral response to NCDs in China to help achieve the ultimate goal of 'harmonious' development and growth.Publication Costa Rica Case Study : Primary Health Care Achievements and Challenges within the Framework of the Social Health Insurance(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)The objective of this paper is to assess the key interventions Costa Rica has developed to expand health coverage for the poor and other vulnerable groups, with an emphasis on its approach to primary health care. Universal health coverage in Costa Rica is provided through a single national health insurance program. This program, which protects the poor without the pitfalls of a fragmented system, and the sustained policies that have enabled the building of a solid primary health care system, is broadly recognized as a success story. At the same, time new challenges are emerging to sustaining the success of Costa Rica's universal health coverage. Social Security of Costa Rica (Caja Costarricense de Seguridad Social, CCSS) faces increased production costs and demographic and epidemiological changes in a rapidly aging population. This report is divided into three broad sections: (1) objective of the case study and health system overview; (2) primary health care and the organization of health services within CCSS; and (3) agenda of key policy decisions for a renewed primary health care approach as part of a more responsive and sustainable health insurance system.Publication Promoting Healthy Living and Aging in Central America : Multi-sectoral Approaches to Prevent Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03)Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the main cause of death and disability in Central America. However, communicable diseases and maternal and child conditions remain important causes of death and disability as well as injuries. With the aging of the population and improvements in the control of infectious diseases, the share of NCDs in the total burden of disease is likely to increase. However, in Central America these diseases cause death at a much younger age than in higher-income countries. It is critical to prevent and control NCDs, both for their impact on health, as well as the economy. When not controlled, they can cause costly hospitalizations and large productivity losses due to absenteeism, disability and premature deaths. Finally, they can impoverish households hit by out-of-pocket payments for health services and drugs. A large share of NCDs can be prevented since they result from exposure to health risk factors such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and the harmful use of alcohol. Central Americans have very high caloric diets that are rich in sodium and refined sugars, and lifestyles that often involve low levels of physical activity. Similarly, large shares of youth in some of the countries smoke, while alcohol consumption among drinkers and the frequency of binge drinking in Nicaragua and Guatemala are very high. Although all countries in the region have introduced multi-sectoral interventions to prevent NCD risk factors, much remains to be done: for example, countries have been more successful controlling smoking than addressing physical inactivity, alcohol abuse and poor diets. The role of the health sector is central to preventing NCDs: It needs to ensure their surveillance, along with the risk factors. In addition, the sector needs to ensure that effective multi-sectoral efforts to prevent these conditions take place.Publication Children and Youth in Crisis : Protecting and Promoting Human Development in Times of Economic Shocks(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012)Motivated by the need to understand how crises affect human development in diverse segments of the population, this book explores how individuals and households cope with the changes and stresses induced by economic crises. It examines how these impacts and coping mechanisms differ across cultural and institutional contexts and looks at how best to protect the most vulnerable from lasting harm and the degradation of human capital. Financial crises, at both the global and the national level, are ubiquitous. Reinhart and Rogoff (2009) provide the invaluable lesson that over the past 800 years a major crisis has happened roughly once every 20 years. This pattern raises concern about the human impacts of crises, especially among more vulnerable people in developing countries. During the most recent global financial crisis, international organizations, bilateral development agencies, and civil society organizations all expressed concern about the ongoing 'human crisis.' The global community has become alarmed that the crisis could reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Human development is at the core of economic development. Human capital accumulation at all stages from the antenatal environment through early childhood and adolescence helps facilitate the transition to a healthy and productive adulthood and break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Shortfalls or setbacks at any stage of the life course may have severe consequences for individual development as well as for the growth and development of successful communities. The work presented in this volume deepens our understanding of how shocks affect children and youth in two ways. First, the authors aggregate the evidence on various developmental outcomes across developmental stages from conception to adulthood. Second, the authors show that the impact of crises will differ according to the social and environmental contexts in which the child or young person grows and that shocks can in turn affect those contexts. The authors hope to understand the short- and long-term impacts of crises, and whether we can identify particular protective factors that support children's recovery from the worst ravages of the crisis. The focus on transmission mechanisms, the pathways of influence, leads to a set of broad policy recommendations for enhancing both protection and recovery.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-29)Commodity prices are expected to decrease by 5 percent in 2025 and 2 percent in 2026. The projected declines are led by oil prices but tempered by price increases for natural gas and a stable outlook for metals and agricultural raw materials. The possibility of escalating conflict in the Middle East represents a substantial near-term upside risk to energy prices, with potential knock-on consequences for other commodities. However, over the forecast horizon, longer-term dynamics—including decelerating global oil demand, diversifying oil production, and ample oil supply capacity—suggest sizable downside risks to oil prices, especially if OPEC+ unwinds its latest production cuts. There are also dual risks to industrial commodity demand stemming from economic activity. On the one hand, concerted stimulus in China and above-trend growth in the United States could push commodity prices higher. On the other, weaker-than-anticipated global industrial activity could dampen them. Following several overlapping global shocks in the early 2020s, which drove parallel swings in commodity prices, commodity markets appear to be departing from a period of tight synchronization. A Special Focus analyzes commodity price synchronization over time and considers the relative importance across commodity cycles of a wide range of demand and supply shocks, including global demand shocks and shocks specific to different commodity markets. It concludes that, while supply shocks were the dominant commodity price driver in the early 2000s and around the global financial crisis, post-pandemic price movements have been more substantially shaped by commodity-specific shocks, such as those related to conflicts.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Is US Trade Policy Reshaping Global Supply Chains ?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-11-01)This paper examines the reshaping of supply chains using detailed US 10-digit import data (tariff-line level) between 2017 and 2022. The results show that while US-China decoupling in bilateral trade is real, supply chains remain intertwined with China. Over the period, China’s share of US imports fell from 22 to 16 percent. The paper shows that the decline is due to US tariffs. US imports from China are being replaced with imports from large developing countries with revealed comparative advantage in a product. Countries replacing China tend to be deeply integrated into China’s supply chains and are experiencing faster import growth from China, especially in strategic industries. Put differently, to displace China on the export side, countries must embrace China’s supply chains. Within products, the reorientation of trade is consistent with a “China + 1” strategy, as opposed to diversified sourcing across multiple countries. There is some evidence of nearshoring, but it is exclusive to border nations, and there is no consistent evidence of reshoring. Despite the significant reshaping, China remained the top supplier of imported goods to the US in 2022.Publication China Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank Group, Washington DC, 2022-10)The China Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) provides analysis and recommendations on integrating the country’s efforts to achieve high-quality development with the pursuit of emission reduction and climate resilience. Without adequate mitigation and adaptation efforts, climate risks will become a growing constraint to China’s long-term growth and prosperity, threatening to reverse development gains. Conversely, if efforts to tackle climate risks lead to a significant decline in growth and rising inequality, they would deprive millions of people of development and likely erode support for the reforms necessary to achieve a lasting economic transformation. Hence, China will need to grow and green its economy at the same time. This report offers policy options to achieve these dual objectives by easing inevitable trade-offs and maximizing potential synergies between China’s development and climate objectives.Publication Benefits and Risks of Financial Globalization : Challenges for Developing Countries(Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 2004-06)This paper discusses the benefits and risks that financial globalization entails for developing countries. Financial globalization can lead to large benefits, particularly to the development of the financial system. But financial globalization can also come with crises and contagion. The net effect of financial globalization is likely positive in the long run, with risks being more prevalent right after countries liberalize. So far, only some countries, sectors, and firms have taken advantage of globalization. As financial systems turn global, governments lose policy instruments, so there is an increasing scope for some form of international financial policy cooperation.