The Ageing population - Research Paper Example

?You The Ageing population Introduction The study of ageing population has been important to policy makers becauseof its implications to the burden of the retirement system, health care provisions and caring for this population. This study believes that there are reasons why some population ages earlier than the others. An insight to these factors can help us understand the underlying reasons for early ageing. A cross cultural comparison of demographic profiles of a developed country, an emerging economy and a developing country will be done to find out if there any differences in ageing population among them. Life expectancy can also be a measure of a potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures. Review of literature Are there really some reasons why some people age faster than others? According to researches and studies, there are really factors that lead to early ageing of populations and some of these have impact on socio economic and health consequences. In the reports of Gosh, 2011, Homeschooling website 2011, BBC News 2011, and Reuters 2011, there is evidence that people with lower education are prone to age more quickly than those with higher education. This evidence points to the researchers from Britain and the United States that examined the length of sections of DNA telomers of 450 people who took part in a long term healthy study. Findings of the study showed people who did less well at school had shorter telemores suggesting they may age faster. Stibich (2009) defines telemores “as bits of “junk DNA” at the end of chromosomes that protect your real DNA every time a cell divides. What happens is that, due to how cells divide, the very last bit of a chromosome can’t be copied 100% - a little bit gets cut off. It was thought that, as cell divide, the telomeres get shorter each time, until they are gone. At that point, the “real DNA” cannot be copied anymore and the cell simply ages and no longer replicates”. Further research showed chronic HIV infection speeds up aging by as much as 20 to 30 years (Rickabaugh et al. 2011) According to WHO, the risk of HIV infliction in South Africa, shortens the lives of people wherein 10% of its population with ages 50-54 are living with HIV. On this, study of Pebody (2009) on life expectancy of people with AIDS in US is reduced by 21 years. Comparing this with black and white’s life expectancy of those diagnosed with HIV, study showed white men have higher years of 25.5 years than black men of 19.9 years and Hispanics with 22.6 years. However, these figures showed an improvement and an increased over the 1969 figures which are relatively shorter. The socio economic consequences are some of the reasons for early ageing as seen in the report of Park of CNN (2011) that said baby boomers are aging faster than previous generations. Park posed the observations that senior population are less healthy and heavier than their parents were at their age; boomers think of themselves as young, but they’re aging physiologically faster, and more often, they are bothered with stress, obesity, health care, brain function and arthritis Methodology The study will use exploratory research in order to discover general information on the ageing population. When the goal of a study is to gain an insight to a particular topic or situation, an exploratory research is an appropriate design for the study (KnowThis.com). This approach has been selected because the research is new and it is hard to pinpoint the research direction. So in using this, result of study may be used for a more formal research direction. Data collection will be gathered from secondary sources of published articles and studies. Discussions A comparison of life expectancy in selected countries is presented in Table 1 to show differences among developed, emerging and third world countries. Table 1. Demographic comparison, by country 2011 Country POPULATION AGE STRUCTRE65 Yrs & above FERT. RATE LIFE EXPECTANCY Years CHINA 1,336,718,015 8.9% 1.54 74.68 United States 313,232,044 13.1% 2.06 78.37 United Kingdom 62,698,362 16.5% 1.91 80.05 Brazil 203,429,773 6.7% 2.18 72.53 South Africa 49,004.031 5.7% 2.3 49.33 Saudi Arabia 26,131,703 3% 2.31 74.11 Cuba 11,087,330 11.75 1.44 77.7 North Korea 24,457,492 9.1% 2.02 68.89 Source, CIA World Factbook, 2011 Category classification of countries are: a)United States and United kingdom are classified as developed countries; b) China and Brazil and Saudi Arabia are emerging economies’ c) South Africa, Cuba and North Korea are underdeveloped countries and sometimes referred to as third world economies, From table 1, it is noted that China has the biggest population. It takes care of 8.9% seniors aging 65 years and above that has a life expectancy of 74.68 years. This means the government has to take care of all the social and health needs of these elders for over 9 years. The next biggest populated country in table 1 is the United States having 313,232,044 populations and has 13.1% of over 65 years and above senior citizen. Life expectancy in U.S. is 78.37 years and is longer than China. From all the countries reviewed on the table, South Africa exhibits a shorter life expectancy of 49.33 years as compared to the rest. This is followed by North Korea that has 68.89 life expectancy. Comparison shows affluent nations have higher life expectancy than the third world countries. The differences of ageing population is noted in the WHO study that said 70% of older people now live in the low or middle income countries. The implication of this figure, according to WHO, are the challenges that these countries have to address in terms of pension and social security and an increased demand for health care. Life Expectancy in South Africa and North Korea This section will be focused on factors for shorter life expectancy in South Africa and North Korea. As noted in Table 1, South Africa has the lowest life expectancy from among the countries reviewed. A cursory investigation from the profile of this country showed that the estimates took into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS. According to CIA World Factbook, AIDs in South Africa result to lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex. Avert.org., an organization that devotes its time in averting AIDS and HIVs, stated that the impact of AIDS to life expectancy is felt in its worst condition in Swaziland wherein life expectancy at birth is 31 years, half the years if there is no AIDs and also to increasing number of child mortality wherein babies are born with HIV infections acquired from their mothers. Increase in death has been noted among the adults aged between 20 to 49 years that accounts for 60% of all deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, as compared to 20% between 1985 to 1990 when the epidemic was on its early stage. http://www.avert.org/aids-impact-africa.htm North Korea is the second country in the study having the lowest life expectancy from among the countries studied. According to Asia Pacific report, life expectancy of North Korea has declined over the past decade and a half with infant and maternal mortality. The mortality rate of 68.89 in 2011 is far below the 72.77 years life expectancy in 1993. The study on North Korean profile which was conducted by the United Populations Fund showed an increase of its population from 21.2 million to 24.05 million over a 15 year period despite of a famine that is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of Koreans in 1990. Today, its biggest problem is food shortage that has worsened because of its nuclear and missile programs. Report of UNP also showed that one third of children in the country and similar proportion of women are malnourished. About sixty five of households is also found to be living in a cramped two bedroom units, and only 85% had access to running water. All the other countries reviewed have almost the same average life expectancy with exception of United Kingdom that registers 80 years old. As shown, life expectancy at birth is an indication and measure of overall quality of life in a country and shows the summary of mortality at all ages. Conclusion Data compiled showed that those living in affluent countries live longer than its counterpart in developing countries. Reasons found are poverty and health issues which are evident in South Africa and North Korea. South Africa has been affected by the epidemic of HIV and AIDS that have significantly impacted the life expectancy of its population. Compared to other countries, life expectancy of its population is just over one half of the years of life expectancy of other countries. This means AIDS is hurting the adult population in their most economically productive years. Economically, it has an impact on the labor force, households and enterprises and reversal of the human population. North Korea has existed as an independent kingdom, and adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic “sefl-reliance” as a check against outside influence. North Korean government considers US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda and molded political, economic and military policies under the core objective of Korean unification (CIA World Factbook). Research showed that poverty, hunger and poor living conditions are factors that reduce the life expectancy of North Koreans. On other areas that pertain to review of literature, lack of proper education is shown related to decrease of age expectancy, while lifestyle shortens life of baby boomers in US, and HIV and AIDS are cited as causes of decline. To sum up, lesson learned in the study is the conclusion that some population ages earlier than other populations in the world, and this is found apparent between the affluent and the poor countries. Health and economic issues are the factors identified to be the dominating reasons for decline of life expectancy. From this, an appropriate study for government policy could be undertaken to design strategy that could help the ageing population. References CIA World Factbook2011. North Korea. Viewed 18 May 2011 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html - - - - - - - - - - -. China. Viewed 18 May 2011 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html -- - - - - - - - - - -South Africa, viewed 18 May 2011 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html -- - - - - - - United Kingdom, viewed 18 May 2011 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html - - - ------ United States, viewed 18 May 2011https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html -- - - - - - Saudi Arabia, viewed 18 May 2011 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html BBC. Less educated will age faster. http://www.gbcghana.com/index.php?id=1.334928.1.381820 Ghosh, Pallab.2011. Less educated will age faster. BBC News Viewed 18 May 2011 Homeschooling. 2011. Less educated people will age faster. Viewed 18 May 2011 KnowThis.com. Exploratory Market Research. Viewed 18 May 2011 Reuters May 11, 2011. Study links to lower education to faster ageing Viewed 18 May 2011 Rickabaugh TM, Kilpatrick RD, Hultin LE, Hultin PM, Hausner MA, et al. (2011) The Dual Impact of HIV-1 Infection and Aging on Naive CD4+ T-Cells: Additive and Distinct Patterns of Impairment. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16459. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016459 Park, Madison. May 10, 2011, Boomers, Sex, Drugs and rocky road” Viewed 18 May 2011 Pebody, Roger, 08 Sept. 8, 2009. People with HIV have 21-year reduction in life expectancy in US . nam. Aidsmap. Viewed 18 May 2011 Stibich, Mark. 2009. Telemore shortening, the secret to aging. Longevity. About.com. Viewed 18 May 2011 World Health Organization. Our ageing world. Ageing life course. World Health Organizaion. Viewed 18 May 2011 Read More