PETALING JAYA: Despite the country heading towards becoming an ageing nation – with an estimation that over six million will be 65 and older by 2040 – an inadequate safety net is provided for seniors in yesterday’s tabling of Budget 2024, say many experts.
The general consensus was that the allocation was not enough, particularly for golden agers who are in need of help, finances and facilities.
Association for Residential Aged Care Operators (AgeCope) president Delren Terrence Douglas called the budget “a great disappointment”.
“We have government departments coming out with statistics to say that we are heading towards an ageing nation; yet other agencies are not in tune with this reality,” he said.
Douglas pointed out an example: the Industrial Building Allowance (of up to 10% of the total building cost) for Health Ministry-approved private nursing homes would, at best, benefit only about 10% of the country’s senior care homes.
“If this allowance is only for ministry-approved homes, then this would only benefit 22 or 23 homes.
“The majority of the country’s 1,700 to 2,000-odd care centres are licensed by the Welfare Department,” he said.
What would have been helpful, he said, was addressing the licensing difficulties these centres face, because registering their homes would improve government data on seniors under the care of others.
“The amount of red tape we face is tremendous, due to different requirements by the various local councils,” he said.
He added that the country was facing a shortage of trained caregivers and there was no standard syllabus to train them.
He said there was also a need to help those who have to send their parents to these centres.
“Many cannot take care of their parents at home and cannot afford the fees,” he said.
New Era University College Institute of Ageing and Professional Care director Assoc Prof Dr Edward Foo asked for clarification on the Industrial Building Allowance.
“It is unclear if the allowance is only for Health Ministry-registered institutions, or does it include Welfare Department-registered institutions?
“The latter are normally the ones that need upgrading.
“Giving the allowance wider coverage is a smart strategy to get unrecorded elderly care homes registered with the government,” he said.
Gerontologist Lily Fu said that there should have been an allocation for programmes to raise awareness about the prevention of diseases affecting seniors.
“Prevention will help ease the financial burden of families and the government.
“The funding for healthcare should also be allocated for building more public nursing homes, given that there are only two, nationwide,” she said.
Malaysian Association for Social Care Professionals and Homes secretary-general Dr Melody Ang said the allocation for Madani training to reskill retirees and the elderly is a good initiative.
“I hope the allocation will help ease our budget constraints, because currently, we have to underprice our courses by 50% to 70%.
“We would also like to recommend that the target group be widened to include seniors’ family members because many of them – often women – who are caregivers of the elderly, do so without any training,” she said.
