Discussion on ‘ageing and policy issues’ on Sept 28
View(s):Two pioneer organisations in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) and the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASS) are organising an interesting discussion this month titled “Ageing Population – Are we Prepared?”
The Monday September 28 event at 5 pm at the Gamini Dissanayake Auditorium, Mahaweli Centre, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mw, Colombo 7, will see speakers like demography expert Prof. Indralal de Silva from the University of Colombo present provide a demography perspective; Ravi Bamunusinghe, CEO, Research Consultancy Bureau (on public issues); Dr. Nishan de Mel, Executive Director
- Verite Research (policy matters); Madu Dissanayake, Director – Advocacy & HIV/AIDS at FPA Sri Lanka (behavioral issues) and Feizal Samath, Business Editor – Sunday Times (business perspective).
According to economist Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Sri Lanka’s ageing population is growing much faster than other South Asian countries and consequently having the highest proportion of elderly population in South Asia.
In a recent Sunday Times column, he has said the elderly population of the country is expected to be more than 20 per cent of the total population and by 2041 one fourth of the population would be elderly. By mid-century the elderly would constitute half of the population. At the same time the proportion of working age population will progressively decrease in the coming decades, he says.