Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-351"
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"en.20081119.23.3-351"2
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"Madam President, the two opening speeches have rightly highlighted longevity as the most significant change in demography. That, of course, means people are living longer, mainly healthier lives, but in later years they become frail in body or mind.
That has meant an enormous growth in neurodegenerative diseases and the cost of that is vast. Drugs for Parkinson’s disease in many countries cost more than drugs for cancer. UK research predicts that by 2051, there will be an increase of 154% in the numbers of people with dementia.
Long-term care: that comes later now. It used to come in the 70s. Now it comes in your 80s and is increasingly coming in your 90s, but it is coming at an ever greater cost to individuals and families with implications for their savings.
The challenge is to ensure longevity as a reward and not a punishment. We need to rethink our assumptions on ageing, moving from just ‘How do we care?’ to ‘How do we promote healthy later years?’. That means healthier lifestyles earlier in life of course; keeping off tobacco and drugs, sensible drinking, healthy eating, exercise, but also management of stress.
Flexible working lives: time for leisure and families. It means preparing for life after work with flexible retirement ages and the gradual movement into retirement that I have seen in the Netherlands. It means greater social support in new and innovative ways, more domiciliary services so that people can stay in their own homes for longer. Services and devices to match changing needs.
When my mother reached 80, she needed a fax machine for communication. At 90, she needed a stair lift. At 100, she needed stimulation as her hearing and sight and mobility diminished. But the mind inside was good and needed to be protected and stimulated if she was to have a real and full life."@en1
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