Sharp rise in elderly population

Health authorities have planned to set up and develop paralysis treatment units countrywide to cope with the increasing number of paralysis patients expected in the future with the increase in the elder population.

A Government Information Department release said the country had experienced a sharp increase in the over 65 elder population in recent years with this segment estimated to reach 20 per cent of the population in 2020.

There has been a tendency for the number of paralysis patients to increase concurrent to the increase in the elder population. This prompted the health authorities to increase the number of paralysis treatment clinics countrywide, the release added.

Paralysis which affected a country’s productivity and economy claimed nearly 15 million people worldwide annually, according to WHO data. Nearly 70 per cent of them either died or reduced to the state of dependants.

Various conditions lead to paralysis in a person. Among them are blocking of an artery supplying blood to the brain, brain haemorrhage, high blood pressure, high percentage of Cholesterol, Diabetes, Consumption of liquor and smoking.

Although there was a greater tendency for paralysis to strike elders there are paralysis patients among youth too according to Prof. Saman Goonatilleka, President of the National Paralysis Association.

There are paralysis units at the Colombo, Kurunegala, Bandarawela and Kegalle hospitals. Under the proposed programme, such units would be set up at all major hospitals including teaching hospitals, said Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Secretary Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage.