International Day of Older Persons

By Arvind M. Dhople, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Florida Tech

Human rights are fundamental healthy longevity.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December, 1948, establishes an individual’s right to equity, life, freedom from slavery and torture, and – among freedom – ensures a “standard of living adequate for the health and welling of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”.  Then, on 14 December, 1990, the U. N. General Assembly voted to establish October 01 as the International Day of Older Persons (IDOP), and since 1991 people have been observing the IDOP.  It is fitting that this year’s IDOP will focus on governments.

            Progress has been made in the 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has accepted by the UN.  The human rights index is a measure “that people are free from government torture, political killings, and forces labor; they have property rights, and enjoy the freedoms of movement, religion, expression, and association”.  Between 1948 and 2023, the data shows a rise in the global human rights index central estimate, from 0.38 (on a scale of 0 to 1) to 0.67.  However, progress seems to be flattering from a peak of 0.73 in 2011.  And huge variation exists between countries, with a human rights index of 0.97 in Sweden and New Zealand compared to 0.02 in North Korea and 0.04 in Afghanistan (U.S. 0.93, UK 0.90, Canada 0.91, France 0.92, and Germany 0.95).

            Declines and disparities in human rights globally matter to human health.  Inadequate food security led to 783 million people worldwide being affected by hunger in 2023.  In 2020, up to 1.1billion people lived in slum-like conditions and the World Health Organization (UN) estimates that in 2022 4.5 billion people were not fully covered by essential health services.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies everyone “without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.  Yet health inequities, driven by these distinctions, exist in every country worldwide.

            Health aging is impacted at all stages of life, and a life course approach to human rights and health is vital.  However, some aspects make infringement of human rights particularly relevant to the health of older people.  Ageism is common worldwide and leads to slew of negative outcomes.  It includes overt form of discrimination, such as elder abuse, to more covert, such as restrictions in access to health-care services and treatment.  Assumptions about cognitive function of older people can lead to a lack of autonomy in health-care decisions.  In addition, for those who lack the capacity to consent to care or treatment, safeguards to ensure that care is given in the patients’ best interests are often ignored or missing.

            Many frameworks exist to guide governments on actions to reduce ageism and improve human rights for older persons.  For example, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (adopted by the U.N. Assembly in April 2002) has just completed its fourth cycle of review and appraisal (in Dec. 2023).  Legal action can be used to protect human rights and health.      

            At a time when global human rights are declining the focus of this year’s International Day of Older Persons is especially welcome.  In health and aging human rights must not be ignored.