Health, care and social protection

Over the coming decades, demographic patterns in all the countries in the region will be marked by the growing population of older persons and a shrinking young population. The timing of this shift as the countries move towards more advanced stages of the demographic transition will not be the same across the region, but most of the countries will have a window of opportunity in which to transform institutions, programmes and practices as required by the new population age structure and the resulting changes in sectoral demands. One of the most obvious changes refers to the demand for health care and the care burden in a context of changes in family structures and women’s roles.

Related Subject(s): Human Rights and Refugees