Mauritius is an island country in East Africa with a current population of approximately 1.3 million. Most of the population resides in the capital, Port Louis. In 2020, the World Bank projected the poverty rate in Mauritius to be around 15.8%. Though the economy of Mauritius suffered as the country gained independence, diversifying its economic activities over the years has helped with its economic growth. However, poverty still prevails in the country. Elderly poverty in Mauritius is still a concern for the country.

Elderly Population in Mauritius

As of 2024, around 13.9% of the total population of Mauritius consists of people from the age group of 65 years and above, according to The World Factbook. The dependency ratio of a country is determined by the number of people who are currently not in the labor force, or those aged 0-14 years and 65 years and above and it stands at 40.7% in Mauritius. The elderly dependency ratio constitutes 17.3% of the total.

A matter of concern for Mauritius is that the dependency ratio has been increasing recently, which means an increase in the dependent population of the country. A decline in fertility rates from 2.3 in 1990 to 1.41 in 2021 and a recent “brain drain” could be some of the reasons for an increase in the elderly population.

According to the U.N., elderly poverty represents the percentage of people aged 65 or above whose income is lower than half the income that is available to a household to spend and save. Reasons for elderly poverty can be both income (reducing working hours and earning lower wages) as well as health-related.

Integrated Care for Elder People Approach

Every one in 10 old-age people in Mauritius are victims of elderly poverty. The number of elderly people who are prone to mental health issues like Alzheimer’s and Dementia is increasing day by day. To tackle this low-income and health situation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has initialized an Integrated Care for Elder People Approach (ICOPE) plan to take a step towards ensuring that elderly people have access to proper health and well-being.

Development Context of the ICOPE involves understanding the challenges that older people face in terms of health care and social care and catering to these challenges. Strategic planning aims to improve the general health and well-being of older people by providing prioritized health services, according to WHO. The methodology and processes of the ICOPE aim to understand elderly health care by conducting various workshops.

The guiding principles propose that access to free health care for elderly people should be a right. These principles pose the relationship between human rights and elderly health care, thereby suggesting that elderly health care is a right as much as it is a necessity. The vision, mission and goal of this approach is to ensure that older people enjoy their rights alongside receiving proper integrated health care services.

Strategic Objectives

The strategic objectives are a set of goals that aim to improve elderly health care from the very base. From early screenings recognizing diseases in elderly people to integrated health care which involves the coming together of different social sectors to cater to all the needs of the elderly, the cover everything related to elderly health care. The objectives also focus on influencing legislation and policies to increase government funding for health care, according to WHO.

Poverty and health care are interrelated terms in the sense that good health leads to a better quality of life. Elderly poverty in Mauritius is being tackled through things like health care schemes for this very same reason. Organizations like the WHO are taking various steps to be able to ensure better standards of living for the country’s aging population.

– Adya Umesh

Adya is based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons