ABSTRACT
Population ageing represents a triumph of social development and public health. Health, old age and poverty are intimately linked. In most societies, a disproportionate number of the 'poorest poor' are very old. Health policies must respond to the need to improve access to social and health resources enabling improvement in the quality of life of both present and future cohorts of elderly populations. Women's health and access to health care are often disproportionately affected by high levels of poverty and economic dependence, experiences of war and violence as well as gender inequities in nutrition and food distribution. Ageing is progressing while basic developmental problems affecting the population as a whole – adequate education, sanitation, control of the environment – still await solutions. There is a very important difference between the demographic transition in developing and developed countries.
