Estrella Clamar celebrates her 100th birthday on May 3 in her home in Barangay Talubangi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.

By DAVID DIZON
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Filipinas will generally outlive their male counterparts but will not necessarily be healthier, according to a study on healthy life expectancy of the elderly population in Japan and the Philippines.

Yasuhiko Saito, research associate professor from the Nihon University Population Research Institute in Japan, said a 60-year-old female in the Philippines can expect to live another 19 years on the average. However, a third of those years or about 6.4 years will be spent in an unhealthy or inactive state.

On the other hand, a 60-year-old Filipino can expect to live another 17 years but only four of those years will be spent in an unhealthy, inactive state. Saito said the same trend can be observed in countries with a growing elderly population such as France and Japan.

"This is a global phenomenon. The males tend to live healthier lives. One probable reason why females live longer is because they have less stress or are more capable of coping with stress," Saito said in a population development forum in Quezon City.

Saito said findings from aging societies showed that old people who come from low-income groups expect to get sickly when they go past retirement age. He said the poor elderly also have the shortest life expectancy, the shortest health expectancy and the longest period of unhealthy life.

Benjamin de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, said studies showed that longevity does not mean an improvement in the quality of life. "People may be living longer but they spend their additional years in poor health or disability because of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease or surviving a stroke. It is not enough for the average person to live longer but to aim for a long and healthy life," he said.

Dr. Joy Natividad of the University of the Philippines Population Institute said the current trend in the Philippines shows that the population is getting younger, with more Filipinos in the early 20s age bracket. She said, however, that one disturbing trend is that while older Pinoys tend to stay with their families, many of their middle-aged children are no longer caring for them because of migration.

"The traditional caregivers are not there due to migration. Also, there's a huge gap in serving the needs of the elderly because much of the focus is on the young," she said.

She said a UP study conducted in 1996 showed that only 10 percent of the country's elderly population is receiving some kind of pension from the government.

Dr. Grace Cruz, also from the UP Population Institute, said the local government should strictly monitor the implementation of the Republic Act 9257 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003. The law gives the elderly a 20 percent discount on medicines and medical services, transportation fare, food in restaurants and other services.

Cruz, however, said this privilege fails to reach the poorer sector of the older population because they have no money to buy the goods.

Natividad also noted that some Filipino elderly citizens fail to plan for their retirement, which could lead to a lower quality of life for retirees.

The solution? According to Saito, the elderly should "continue working even when they're beyond retirement age."