The Filipino population is aging and there are not enough medical experts to treat the elderly, a University of the Philippines (UP) study on aging revealed.

Though the nation boasts of a reserve of young citizens, the elderly population is now catching up as they compose at least seven to eight million of the current total population.

Filipinos, aged 60 and above, are now the ‘‘fastest growing segment of the Philippine population, the UP Population Institute (UPPI) study showed.

If only there were as much health professionals who are knowledgeable and well-trained to care for them holistically, the country’s senior citizens will grow even bigger in number, said Dr. Shelley Ann dela Vega of the National Institutes of Health in UP Manila.

De Vega said her research aims to make the authorities aware of the pressing need to include in the medicine curriculum an approach to care for the elderly in a holistic manner.

Copies of the study have been sent to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC).

“The Philippines needs to prepare for the burgeoning population of older persons. The population 60 years and above has grown at a very rapid rate, increasing from 3.2 million in 1990 to 4.6 million in 2000. By the year 2030, ten percent of our population will be composed of senior citizens,” dela Vega said in the study “Status of Geriatric Education in Philippine Medical Schools.”

The study covered 23 schools and found out that only 18 had geriatrics as part of a required course.

These include UP, University of Santo Tomas, St. Luke’s Medical school, Cebu doctor’s hospital and Ateneo School of medicine.

However, most of the graduating students believe they are prepared to take care of the elderly in outpatient clinics and hospitals, but only 61 percent of teachers think they possess the necessary Knowledge, attitude, and practice for such a job, the study noted.

Geriatrics is a sub –specialty of medicine focusing on the care for the elderly.

Dela Vega’s study identified the major stumbling blocks in developing a geriatric program.

These are lack of clinical educators, lack of senior research faculty, lack of junior research faculty, and lack of access to medical students curricular time.

“The care for the elderly should be holistic. For instance, surgeons should know how to take care of older patients, like what medications could cause confusion or affect the memory of older patients after surgery,” she said.

Dela Vega said we could even catch up with the aging population of Japan if the number of older citizens continue to grow.

She said increasing life expectancy among Filipinos is one major factor for the Filipino aging population.

In 1995, the average life expectancy in the country is 65 to 67 years. Currently, it stands at 72 to 73.

Moreover, she said improvement in healthcare also plays a big factor as well as the vaccines that prevent diseases. Fewer adults are also dying from strokes and heart attacks and there are better drugs now resulting to lower death rate.