Health groups for the elderly and people with disabilities are planned to be created in all districts of the Vitebsk region

May 7, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Health groups for the elderly and disabled are planned to be created in all districts of the Vitebsk region, the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. Currently, 22 sports clubs and five health and fitness centers operate in the region's management system, which have created 11 "Health" groups for the elderly. More than 100 people attend them on a regular basis. 34 geriatric offices have been organized in the region's healthcare institutions, and 37 "third age" health schools are functioning, where almost 7,000 people have been trained. 35 beds are functioning in the region to provide palliative medical care - in the district hospital of the settlement of Oktyabrsky, Vitebsk district, and the Orsha city hospital. This type of medical care will be further developed this year. The implementation of the regional comprehensive program for the development of social services for 2011-2015 contributes to solving the problems of the elderly, primarily aimed at addressing the issues of veterans, disabled people, lonely elderly and old people. Currently, 246.5 thousand elderly citizens live in the region - about 21% of the population. The aging of the population has become a stable trend in recent years. According to forecasts, by 2015, the proportion of elderly citizens in the population structure will reach 24%. According to the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Healthcare Department, in 2011, against the backdrop of a general decrease in mortality by 3.7%, mortality in the older working-age population decreased by 4.3%. -0-