Senior citizens crippled by rising medicine costs

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Senior citizens in our country, already struggling to cope with the alarming fall in interest rates in small savings schemes, have been facing another battle which has not been able to make it to the headlines.

There has been more than 50% rise in medicines for BP, diabetes and other chronic diseases alongwith all types of antibiotics in the past decade. Psychiatric medicines and surgery items too have seen a jump in retail prices.

As there is no alternative to these medicines, they have been forced to spend a major part of their retirement kitty on medicines. Instead of enjoying post-retirement life, they are worried about their existence.

A bigger worry is that the post-pandemic world may be even tougher for a majority section of the population as many senior citizens are dependent on their children for their needs and a dip in income or job loss will lead to difficulties.

It is silently eroding their hard-earned savings and government must address this important issue on priority.

After working hard and making sacrifices, senior citizens deserve peace and security. The economic burden can be eased at least when it comes to the survival part.

Almost every senior citizen is suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, especially those had worked in service sector.

As a nation, we must strive to ensure that these costs do not hurt our senior citizens.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated our woes and some of it has resulted in unwanted pain for us. Let us not make it worse.