世界衛生日關注人口老化問題

The World Health Organization is calling for urgent action to make sure all people reach old age in the best possible health. To mark this year’s World Health Day, WHO says good health is essential for maintaining a good quality of life as people get older in this rapidly aging world.

世界衛生組織呼籲採取緊急行動以確保所有老齡人口的健康。爲紀念今年的世界衛生日，世衛組織說，在如今這個快速老化的世界，當人們變老時必須有良好的健康來維持良好的生活品質。

The pulsating beat of the music does not just get the hearts of young people pumping with joy. Older people too get caught up in the rhythmic beat. This video produced for World Health Day presents a montage of elderly people throughout the world engaged in activities that would exhaust many a younger person. Particularly impressive is the image of a 100-year-old man finishing a marathon.

音樂的脈動並不只是讓年輕人的心臟愉悅地跳動，老年人同樣也會隨着節奏而律動。這個爲世界衛生日製作的影片剪輯了世界各地的老年人從事着會讓年輕人累壞的活動，當中特別令人印象深刻的是一個100歲的人剛跑完馬拉松。

“We really need to change our thinking about people in the over-60 age group in radical ways,” said Director-General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan. She says so many people now are living to an advanced age that a birth date alone is no longer a measure of old age.

陳馮富珍說：“我們要徹底改變我們對60歲以上的人的看法。”世衛組織祕書長陳馮富珍說，現在許多人活到高齡，光是出生日期不再能計算老年。

“Within the next five years, for the first time in history, the population of people aged 65 and older will outnumber children under the age of five. In other words, being in the older age group is becoming the new normal for the world’s population and I am very proud to be qualified for the new normal,” she said.

陳馮富珍說：“在接下來的5年內是歷史上首次65歲以上人口超越5歲以下的兒童人口。換句話說變成老年族羣成了世界人口的新常態，我很自豪我有資格變成新常態。”

Contrary to common perceptions, the WHO reports by 2050, 80 percent of the world’s older people will be living in low-and middle-income countries - not in the wealthier nations. And, a new analysis shows the key reasons for ill health in older people are from non-communicable diseases.

與一般的認知相反，世衛組織的報告指出，在2050年之前，80%的老齡人口將分佈在中低收入國家，而非較富欲國家。同時，一項新的分析顯示，影響老齡人口健康的關鍵原因是非傳染性疾病。

The U.N. health agency says even in the poorest countries, elderly people are not dying from infectious diseases or gastroenteritis. Rather, they are dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease.

世衛組織說，即便在最貧窮的國家，老年人也不是由於患感染性疾病或腸胃炎死亡。他們多死於心臟病、中風、癌症、糖尿病和慢性肺病。Director of the WHO Aging and Life Course, John Beard, says adopting healthy behaviors can significantly reduce the risk of developing all non-communicable diseases. He says being physically active, eating a healthy diet, avoiding the harmful use of alcohol and not smoking can better the chances of enjoying a healthy old age.

世衛組織老化和生命過程項目的主任畢爾德說，採取健康的行爲可以明顯降低患非傳染性疾病的風險。他說，常活動、飲食健康、少喝酒、不抽菸，會讓人有更高的機會得以過健康的老年生活。

He says it is also important for society to change its attitude toward aging. He says it is wrong to focus on aging as a problem. It is wrong to regard older people as a burden.

畢爾德說，社會改變對老化的態度也很重要。他說，將老化看作是一個問題是錯的，將老年人視爲負擔也是錯的。

“At WHO, we see it somewhat differently," said Beard. "We see older people as a resource. We see them as a resource for their family, for their community, for society as a whole. And the key to liberating that resource is good health and it is something which we have neglected in the past and we need to make sure that the older populations which we are going to share this planet within the future and which all of us will be part of - that as far as possible, we enjoy the best possible health because that makes everything possible.”

畢爾德說：“在世衛組織，我們用不同的方式來看待老年人。我們將老年人視爲資源，我們將整個老齡人口視爲他們的家庭、社區和社會的資源。充分運用這個資源的關鍵在於良好的健康，這是我們過去所忽視的。我們必須確保在未來會和我們一同分享地球以及我們將來也會成爲的老齡人口儘可能健康，因爲這樣纔會有無限的可能。”

The World Health Organization recommends several key actions to strengthen healthy and active aging. It urges governments to promote good healthy behaviors throughout life and to provide basic primary health care to detect chronic diseases early so they can be treated.

世衛組織提出增強健康和活躍老化的幾項關鍵行動的建議。它敦促各國政府宣傳與指導生活中的健康行爲，提供基本醫療保健，以便使慢性病能夠得到早期診斷和早期治療。

WHO says physical and social environments should be created in which old people can thrive. And it calls on governments to change social attitudes toward the elderly so they are respected and valued.

世衛組織說，應該創造老年人能健康生活的物質和社會環境。它並且呼籲政府改變對老年人的社會態度，讓老年人受到尊重和重視。