The Tanzania’s Policy on Aging: A Critical Review on Existing Gaps towards Promoting Education for Older Adults

Policy is an imperative factor for the success of the effective implementation of care and services for older people in Tanzania or elsewhere in the world. However, for many years, care and services for older adults have been highly disregarded. In Tanzania for instance, a policy for ageing people is a just a recent initiative when compared to policy initiatives established in other sectors. The existence of comprehensive policy for older adults in the country is critical because the lack of policy may lead into adverse effects such as inaction on important issues that affect ageing population in the country. On the other hand, however, a mere existence of policy on ageing and on education for old adults does not necessarily guarantee the success of its implementation. In Tanzania the policy on ageing was formulated in 2003. Since then, however, there have been no systematic empirical study to determine its impact. This paper examines this policy in attempt to understand its robustness. Global Journal of Aging & Geriatric Research Volume 1-Issue 5 Citation: Mpoki J Mwaikokesya. The Tanzania’s Policy on Aging: A Critical Review on Existing Gaps towards Promoting Education for Older Adults. Glob J Aging Geriatr Res. 1(5): 2022. GJAGR.MS.ID.000523. Page 2 of 5 The above discussion on demographic shifts and the challenges resulting from the rapid increase of ageing society in both developed and developing countries raises critical questions regarding how best the aging issues can be addressed? Clearly, there seem to be eminent challenges that call for immediate policy attention. As reported earlier in this paper, the poorest populations and nations are often the hardest hit from multiple compounding barriers in the provision of long-term support and services to the aging populations. Targeted policies and innovative strategies are therefore essential to improve the likelihood that the most vulnerable older adults can successfully age. National and international policies on aging and support services In cognizance of the above critical challenges posed by the recent unprecedented increase in the aging population, some of the national and international actors have formulated policies in attempt to arrest the situation. One of the key policy recommendations at international level had been the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and its Political Declaration (Madrid Plan), adopted in April 2002 by 159 governments recommending priority directions and actions to address them. In particular, the Madrid plan emphasizes the crucial role of governments in promoting, providing and ensuring access to basic social services, bearing in mind specific needs of older persons and drawing attention to the urgent need for action on ageing [7]. With regard to education and training for older adults, the Madrid plan requires all countries to ensure that older adults have adequate access to knowledge, education and training. As noted by the United Nations Population Fund (2012) [8], countries such as Australia, Finland, Japan and Thailand where ageing is relatively more advanced, had comprehensive legislation and policy even before the Madrid Plan recommendations. Despite their existence however, globally, several policies on ageing are highlighted as having critical gaps as highlighted by the UNFPA