JICA, Japanese NGO offer assistance to elderly in Tarlac

August 31, 2017

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japanese non-profit group Momotaro Kai Social Welfare Corporation are expanding their assistance on preventive care for more than 3,000 senior citizens and families in the municipality of Capas, Tarlac.

“Many countries in the world, Japan included, worry about population aging. This means demand for health care for older citizens and providing them with care and support,” said JICA Senior Representative Aya Kano. “Through this cooperation, we aim to share Japan’s experience and know-how on preventive health care.”

The cooperation, which began in 2015, is on its second phase until 2020, JICA said in a press statement on Thursday.

With the Municipal Social Welfare Development Office (MSWDO) and Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in Tarlac, JICA and Momotaro Kai will update the manual for long-term care prevention for elderly developed in the project’s first phase and capacity building of barangay leaders that will implement preventive care.

During the project’s Phase 1, Momotaro Kai Social Welfare Corporation based in Kibichuo, Japan dispatched a care manager and nursing care supervisor in Capas to help create a nursing care prevention manual for the elderly.

JICA added that said pilot activities will hopefully “help the Philippines develop its own policies for the elderly and future senior citizens.”

“For the second phase of the project, we aim to hold seminars on long-term care prevention for the elderly and dispatch some staff from our town Kibichuo cho to share our experiences,” said Masanori Yamamoto, mayor of Kibichuo in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.

Geriatric care in the Philippines is expected to rise with the rise of the population’s life expectancy at 68 years old, 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) data showed.

In Japan, which has one of the highest aging populations in the world, life expectancy has reached 83 years old.

Organizations like Momotaro Kai maintain social welfare facilities for the elderly to help address the health needs of the senior population.

JICA has been supporting the Philippine government’s vision of a better life for Filipinos through various grassroots cooperation projects with Japanese NGOs to include eco-tourism promotion, training of social workers handling vulnerable children, and education access of marginalized communities in far-flung areas to name a few. DMS