Overview of health and ageing issues in the Asia-Pacific region

There is a tendency to consider ageing a ‘problem’ – perhaps regarding it a costly and difficult thing to deal with and even a threat to social and economic futures. This has sometimes been called the ‘moral panic’ perspective, viewing demographic ageing as a reason for concern, rather than a remarkable achievement of clinical and social successes in making people healthier and longer-lived. Nevertheless, while it is unfair to scapegoat an ageing …