An Abuja based NGO, Save Our Heritage Initiative (SOHI) on Sunday, appealed to public spirited Nigerians to extend palliatives to aged people, right in their various communities.
Ms May Ikokwu, Chief Executive Officer of the Initiative made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Ikokwu, who is also the Secretary General, Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria (COSROPIN) said many older persons were worse hit by the lockdown.
The government imposed the lockdown to stem the spreading novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
She explained that the lockdown induced hardship had affected about 90 per cent of older people, who are dependent on either their children or others for care and survival.
“It is sad to see the plight of many older persons, who we use as resource persons for our work, with indigenous people.
“Since the lockdown, their children and other people who assist them financially have either lost their jobs or cannot be reached because of the lockdown,’’ she said.
Ikokwu reiterated the call for intensive care for older persons, saying that their health condition had deteriorated as a result of too much confinement, occasioned by the lockdown.
According to her, this invariably makes them require more medication than usual because when they get prescriptions from hospital, they have to buy the drugs themselves.
The SOHI boss bemoaned the lack of insurance to offset the cost of medicine for the aged, making them not only dependent on people for feeding but also for drugs.
She urged stakeholders to unite against the plight of old people and widows by ensuring that they get palliatives in their various communities.
Ikokwu emphasised the need for the National Assembly to expedite action by passing Sen. Ezenwa Onyewuchi’s Older Persons Bill into law to enable older persons have their rights to quality healthcare, transportation, respect and self-dignity. (NAN)
