In the presence of 12 municipal leaders from Keserwan and Jbeil districts along with the Caimacam Nathalie Khoury, several mokhtars, and Mireille Al Alam representing the Minister of Social Affairs and members of AUT University for the Third Age, AUT held a celebration of Older People International Day.
With medical presentations tackling old age ailments, Dr Selim Mogharbel and Dr Sami Jamous alerted the audience about preventive measures and discussed new remedies and treatments.
Al Alam presented the main actions towards the comfort of older people undertaken by the Ministry of Social Affairs and called on the mayors and lokhtars to inform the older people in their cities about the benefits they can get.
The panel that AUT VP Hinain invited on stage included Dr Dolly Sfeir (Byblos Municipality), Dr Pierre Edde (Edde Mayor), Dr Bashir Elias (VP of Jbeil Municipalities Federation and Mayor of Mayfouk) and Mr Alain Aoun (Okaibe Mayor).
The first topic discussed was the importance of statistics that can show the number and address of older people living alone so regular visits to their homes can be organized.
Another topic was the importance of making driving and walking safer and easier for older people by repairing sidewalks and increasing street lighting.
The audience then commented on the suggestion of creating older people clubs by pointing out that this can be realized in small as well as large towns.
The Caimacam insisted that coordination between the Ministry of Social Affairs and that of the Interior was essential so that the former initiatives can have a better reach through municipal leaders and mokhtars.
Discussions included the need to include special municipal budget items allocated to older people services and the need in large cities to give priority to older people in municipal transactions.Talks also included discrimination against older people that is still present in society and the need to engage young people in actions toward their elders
It was decided by VP Hinain in the end to have AUT gather municipal leaders around the Minister of Social Affairs and get detailed action plans put in place to make the lives of older people more enjoyable.
The conference was concluded by certificates of appreciation offered to panelists and by a cocktail reception
