Kosovo heading toward population ageing, cooperation needed to manage the situation

“Healthy ageing” of the population and the need to prepare the health and social system were the themes of the 17th International Conference of Health Sciences, held this Saturday in Pristina. Local and international experts presented their papers on policies and on how institutions should conduct themselves in the face of this situation.

Organized by the Southeast Europe Institute for Health and Social Policy, with the support of Heimerer College, the event brought together Albanian professionals in the field as well as participants from several countries around the world.

The executive director of the Southeast Europe Institute for Health and Social Policy, Agron Gashi, said Kosovo’s population is heading toward ageing.

Gashi: By 2060, around 18 percent of Kosovo’s population is expected to be over 65

“According to the projections of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, published this July, growth for the 2035–2060 period projects that in Kosovo there will be around 18 percent of the population — around 380,000 people over 65. This data sends a special message: the time to act, to prepare, is now,” he stressed.

On coping with population ageing, the rector of Heimerer College, Naime Brajshori, called for cooperation between health and academic institutions for the well-being of society.

“This responsibility is not the responsibility of academic institutions alone, but of all health and social institutions, as well as society in general. Healthy ageing is not only about extending life, but about creating the conditions for the individual to preserve dignity, integrity, autonomy, active participation in society and quality of life,” she said.

A professor from Germany also presented her paper to the attendees.

“Through my presentation I have shown my contribution to the education of nursing competence and the methodologies that contribute precisely to the well-being of healthy ageing,” stressed Ursula Kriesten, a professor from Germany.

At this conference, held for the 17th time, scientific papers by local and international health experts were presented and discussed in two sessions.