The global population projections from 1950 to 2100 show a drastic decline of Albanian population living in Albania, according to United Nations data.
In 2100, the population of Albania will be 1,754,540, with a 1.2 million drop in the current population (2.9 million) according to the UN portal.
In addition there will be a significant deterioration in population vitality. The pyramid shows that this year, about 546,000 people are over 60 years old, as it is seen that the pyramid base is clearly visible, reflecting a low level of births. In 2100, the number of persons over 60 will be greater than those under this age.One of the causes of the deterioration is immigration, where according to the same source since 1990 has emigrated 20% of the country's population, most in Greece and Italy.
In Albania, according to figures published by INSTAT, the share of the population aged 65 and over increased from 5 to 11% between 1989 and 2011 and will reach 29% by 2060. Compared to other states in the world, our country is not yet in the "high risk" area of the aging population, but is moving rapidly towards it.
Due to the combined effect of increasing life expectancy, lower fertility and rising emigration of young people, the percentage of elderly people in the population aged 65 and over increased from 5 to 11% in the period 1989 to 2011. In 2017, the elderly over 60 occupy 18.8% of the total population.
Unprepared for the elderly
Good or bad, Albania has a raised infrastructure for young people. The increasing investments and the number of students dropping will further adjust the conditions for younger ages, but for the third ages that in the comming years will be majority there is no background preparation. Albania is one of the few countries in Europe that has no integrated legislation for the elderly, and is far behind in this regard.
The Institute of Public Health, starting from several studies in Tirana and in the districts, found last year that more than two-thirds of the elderly over 65 are ill or suffer from chronic illness, while one-third report that they suffer from more than one disease or health problems.
The number of elderly people using primary health care accounts for almost half of them and the trend is towards growth. Also, the elderly consume almost half of the medicines, or more than three times, compared to the sick of other ages. According to the IPH of 530 thousand elderly, registered with the family doctor, about 405 thousand use the services funded by the health insurance scheme. About 160,000 are regular beneficiaries of the scheme, and average value of 252 million ALL per month. But not everything is in their hands. The study found that the elderlz often encounter social barriers that affect o lot their lives. More and more elderly people live alone, while their economic situation is worse than the rest of society.
In a global aging population aging, the elderly will play an important role through volunteering, knowledge and experience transfer, helping families to retain their responsibilities, and increasing their participation as a paid workforce. Today, the elderly play an important role in society. In Africa, or anywhere else, millions of adult patients who are ill with AIDS are being helped in their homes by their parents. After their deaths, the remaining orphan children (lately 14 million under the age of under 15 in African countries) are in most cases in the care of their grandparents.
Such contributions to development can only be provided if the elderly enjoy levels of health standards for which specific strategies should be developed./Oculus News