An international conference on "Mainstream Ageing in Health System and Rural Development" begins at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel today (Tuesday), reports BSS. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) will disseminate the findings of its PHILL projects in the two-day conference. BRAC conducted the "Primary Health-Care in Later Life: Improving Services in Bangladesh and Vietnam" (PHILL) project bringing the emerging issue of increasing elderly population in society and improving their quality of life. BRAC, with the support of European Commission and some international agencies, conducted the project aimed at improving the health and quality of life of elderly people living in rural communities in Bangladesh and Vietnam. Health Strategy and Policy Institute in Vietnam, Karollinska Institute of Sweden and University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom also provided support to the project. Health and Family Welfare Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain will attend the inaugural session of the conference as the chief guest. The conference will bring together professionals, policy makers, academics and researchers to actively prepare for the challenges of population ageing in the low-income regions of the world. In Bangladesh, adult health has received little attention from primary health care services, health issues of the elderly people rarely appear on the public health agenda except some fragmented activities undertaken in the voluntary and non- governmental sectors.
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