VOA标准英语2011--Report: Africa Not Prepared for Aging Population

Report: Africa Not Prepared for Aging Population

 

A new report says African governments are ill prepared to handle the growing number of people over age 65. The African Development Bank is raising concerns over the lack of health insurance and pensions.

The report says the population in Africa, as in other parts of the world, is getting older. Currently, there are 36 million people on the continent 65 years and above. That’s 3.6 percent of the population, up from 3.3 percent 10 years ago. That could rise to 4.5 percent by 2030 and 10 percent by 2050.

No safety nets

The African Development Bank says, “Aging is highly linked with long-term physical and mental disability and a number of long-term chronic¹ conditions.”

“Africa is not well prepared to care for its aging population right now. But…it needs to prepare for this phenomenon,” said Professor Mthuli Ncube, the African Development Bank’s chief economist².

African nations spend far less on healthcare than developed nations do -- about $26 per person per year.

An elderly voter struggles into a polling station as the country goes to the polls in local municipal elections in Soweto, South Africa, Wednesday, May 18, 2011. (Photo/Denis Farrell)

“Not so many countries have well developed medical aid schemes for the elderly, whether they are privately³ provided schemes or indeed government schemes. And number two, if you look at the pension schemes, the pension industries, (they’re) not well developed in some of the countries. And here one is talking of a pension industry where both the employer and employee, while the employee is at a working age, contribute. These types of industries are also not well developed,” he said.

The bank’s report says “contributory pension plans” cover very few people due to the nature of many jobs and livelihoods⁴. Most of the population works in the informal or agricultural sectors⁶ that offer little, if any, social security protection.

The report adds that households headed by older Africans are among the poorest. For example, in Kenya and Tanzania, such households have a poverty rate over 20% higher than the national average.

Time to act

Ncube said African governments failed to take action on health insurance and pensions because they were busy with economic reforms.

“If you look at what happened in Africa in the 80s, which is when quite a bit of the reforms were done, it was about economic structural⁷ adjustment. It was about macroeconomic stability. But now it’s time to move to the second phase, which is regulatory reforms. It’s about deepening capital markets, unleashing⁸ new institutions. All things that are regulatory need to be put in place as the second level of institution building,” he said.

Another challenge for Africa is the decline of informal systems of social protection. That is, cash and support from both the extended family and community sources.

“The extended family issue is still embedded⁹ in the African culture. But over time, it’s going to get eroded¹⁰ as middle class values set in, as urbanization accelerates. We estimate that the urban population will grow from something like 40 percent currently to closer to 75 percent in 50 years time. All of that erodes¹¹ the extended family culture and systems and all of that,” he said.

As the extended family erodes, he said, the nuclear family will become dominant¹². A nuclear family is defined as a mother, father and children sharing living quarters.

The African Development Bank recommends governments help implement¹³ health insurance and pension plans.

“Even at the current level of population of just over a billion people, there is a burgeoning¹⁴ middle class. The middle class are naturally living longer. Even people who are in the rural areas are also beginning to live longer. So over time, the next 50 years, the issue of the elderly will become a problem,” said Ncube.

What’s more, there are fewer caregivers because of the millions who’ve died from HIV/AIDS. This can be seen in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Ncube said African governments don’t have to handle the health insurance burden alone.

“Not only is it an imperative,” he said, ”but also it’s an opportunity for the private sector⁵ to add its bit in this regard, you know, the launch of privately owned companies, health care insurance, medical insurance and all of that. All these are private sector opportunities that are there to be taken.”

The report also recommends that African governments consider providing access to both free and subsidized health services, medications and long-term health care facilities for the elderly.

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 unleashing   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
• Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网

9 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

10 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

11 erodes   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的第三人称单数 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The sea erodes the rock. 海水侵蚀岩石。
• The sea erodes the land. 海洋侵蚀陆地。

12 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

14 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句