How to help the elderly during natural disasters

A major charity is launching a new index to measure the risks faced by the elderly during natural disasters and urge governments to take their needs into account when planning ways to reduce the impact of disasters.

“It is the unprecedented rate at which populations are ageing, alongside the increasing frequency of disasters, that presents policy makers with a challenge,” said Toby Porter, chief executive of HelpAge International.

Older people in Somalia, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan face the greatest risks from natural disasters, and those in Malta and Finland the lowest, according to the charity’s Disaster Risk and Age Index.

The charity plans to unveil the index at the third U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, taking place in Sendai, Japan on March 14-18.

HelpAge noted that 56 percent of those killed by the 2011 Japan tsunami were over 65, although this age group made up only 23 percent of the population.

Japan ranks 133rd most risky out of 190 countries on the Index; although it has high levels of hazard and exposure, it ranks well for vulnerability and coping capacity.

Ahead of the fourth anniversary on March 11 of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the Red Cross on Monday highlighted the long-term problems faced by older people in coping with natural disasters themselves and with the aftermath.

“Particular attention must be given to the needs of many elderly and other vulnerable people,” said Tadateru Konoe, President of the Japanese Red Cross.

“Whereas the living conditions of younger generations have by now mostly returned to normal, the situation is more serious for a large number of elderly people who lack a supporting family network and have not yet been able to restore their lives,” the Red Cross said in a statement on the experience of elderly Japanese after the tsunami.

The victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005 were also predominantly elderly. Some 75 percent of those who died were aged 60 or over, though that age group comprised only 16 percent of the local population.

“Older people are often seen as passive recipients of aid rather than active participants in disaster risk reduction activities,” said Godfred Paul, a senior official at HelpAge International. “They often get overlooked.”

The charity is urging governments, NGOs and civil society organizations to sign up to a 14-point declaration to include older people, and their specific needs, in disaster risk reduction efforts.

This article is published in collaboration with The Thomson Reuters Foundation. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Joseph D’ Urso is an intern at The Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

Image: A man walks at his shop after an earthquake in Saravan. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi.