Accra, Nov 28, GNA- Mr K. B. Asante, a Diplomat and a Social Commentator said on Friday that the state must formulate an ageing policy that would address the needs of the elderly because family support alone could not maintain them for long.

That policy, he said, should address income security as a major priority and jobs created for them since their skills could still be utilised.

He questioned how the unemployed elderly could be given living wages when those in employment could not make ends meet.

Mr Asante was speaking on the topic: "Care for the Elderly in Ghana - How Far?" at a workshop for Parliamentary Select Committee on Manpower Development on ageing in Ghana.

The workshop, attended by about 20 members was organised by the Help Age Ghana to give the committee information on the plight of the elderly to enable them to formulate an ageing policy that was currently before Cabinet.

He said care should be taken that any national institution created for the benefit of the elderly was not bureaucratic but should provide service at the doorsteps of the elderly.

"We should not create structures that we cannot maintain for the elderly adding, that individuals, families and communities must accept their responsibilities even when the central authority refuse to take most of the burden".

He said the poverty imposed on citizens by the economy did not encourage respect for social responsibility.

He said chiefs, civil society and religious bodies could help to maintain and enforce the tradition of care, respect for the old and the values that keep people together.

Economic policies should regard the elderly as valuable human resources, which if properly harnessed, could assist economic growth.

Mr Asante said policies would not reach anywhere if the individual did not prepare for old age, since pension were unlikely to meet all the needs.

He said the elderly should be integrated with society and old people's home should be a matter of last resort.

Professor Nana Araba Apt, President of Help Age spoke on ageing issues in Ghana and said social changes like urbanisation, migration and the increasing nuclear family system had resulted in many elderly persons in Ghana living alone in isolation.

She said institutions that responded better to the needs of the elderly should be strengthened.