Hohoe, Oct. 8, GNA - Reverend Dr. Livingston Buama, Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana has advised the youth to be mindful of the negative comments they made about the aged. He said ageing was another chapter of life and that being old did not mean one was a devil. "It is a blessing and a gift from God". Rev. Dr. Buama said this at the celebration of World Day of the Aged at Hohoe at the weekend.

The day that coincided with the inauguration of the Hohoe chapter of Shepherd's Centre of Ageing (SCA) was on the theme 'ageing In The Twenty-first Century: Challenges and Opportunities.' The SCA is a community based interfaith organization that advocates, promotes and supports ageing with particular focus on the aged. Rev. Dr. Buama said the aged were the key resource persons in society when it came to history, culture and tradition, as they were reservoirs of knowledge and experience.

"The fact that people are old does not mean they are retarded." Rev. Dr. Seth S. Agidi, National Coordinator of SCA, said social structures and institutions were not keeping pace with changes that were taking place in the lives of the aged and the ageing.

He said many people still believed that what used to be a strong extended family system, with its structures and patterns of solidarity and blood ties, still existed and would continue to take care of problems associated with elderly care.

Rev. Dr. Agidi appealed to the governme nt to put in place social structures and policies that will enhance the well being of the aged. Togbega Gabusu VI, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area and President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, said some pastors were misleading the youth to see the aged as wizards and witches. A 150-member Hohoe Chapter of SCA under the chairmanship of Madam Rosemary Dokpo was inaugurated at the ceremony.

As part of the celebration a medical team from Sabath Christian Church, a faith based NGO led by Rev. Maxwell Adu, screened 150 aged people and gave them free "start-up drugs".