Older people: forgotten victims amid the Ukrainian humanitarian disaster

Elsevier, The Lancet Public Health, 2022
Authors: 
Benedetta Armocida, Silvia Ussai, Maksym Pavlovych, Martina Valente, Eduardo Missoni, Marco Pistis, Baldassare Lauria, Flavia Bustreo, Graziano Onder

With improvement in life expectancy and the rapid population ageing in recent decades, when a humanitarian crisis occurs, a larger group of older people than in previous decades might be disproportionately affected.1 Although older people have been recognised as a vulnerable group in humanitarian crises, they have not traditionally been considered a priority for humanitarian assistance.2 International guidelines take older people into account and specific recommendations exist on the inclusion of this population amid humanitarian crises;3 however, their concrete extent of real-world applicability remains limited.