NEW DELHI: Indian men are dying young, but women live longer. Either way, statistics show that elderly India is increasingly female. The statistics released by the Registrar General of India, dated till 2010 have pointed out that save for three states the rest of the states in India has more women than men above 60. The report however did not say what caused women to live longer than men. On World Health Day, April 2 WHO's Regional Director for South-East Asia Samlee Plianbangchang reaffirmed that the trend in prevalent across South and South East Asia. “Older women out number and out live older men. Gender discrimination and widowhood has a considerable impact on the health of elderly women,” he said. The country's planners in the health ministry expect that by 2016 51 percent, that is more than half of the elderly population, will be women. However, the good news is that the percentage of elderly population has gone up from to 7 percent of the total population, from the earlier 6 percent in 2000. “On account of better education, health facilities and increase in life expectancy, the percentage of elderly population (60+) has gone up from 6 percent to 7 percent,” the report said. Most of India's elderly live in rural villages that are known to have poor access to healthcare and life saving equipment. In rural India, 7.5 percent of the population is above 60 but in urban areas and towns the corresponding figure is 7 percent urban areas. Access to healthcare to the elderly is especially important with a recent Planning Commission report saying that there are high levels of depression among India's elderly, as much as one in four, high levels of arthritis, one in three, and hearing impairment, one in five.
