Study Predicts Israelis Over 75 to Increase 48% by 2030
2 min read
New research has shown that the 75-plus population in Israel will see an increase of 48% by 2030, which means that the healthcare system in the country needs to be bolstered urgently.
Modeling indicates that the age group will see a growth to 740,000 from 500,000 in the next seven years.
The study was conducted by a research organization based in Jerusalem called the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute.
The research
The researcher heading the study, Yitschak Shnoor, said that children who were born not long after World War II, which means they are part of the baby boomer generation, are hitting old age.
He said that they this demographic trend needs to be noticed. He also added that the health system has significant challenges because a high level of medical care is required by the elderly.
The study in question was published only in Hebrew and it also comprised of some statistics that took the hospital needs into account.
Shnoor also included people belonging to the 65-plus age group for this area of research and discovered that the hospitalization in internal wards was 63%, in intensive COVID care wards was 59.6%, in pulmonary wards it was 58.6% and in COVID-19 wards it was 49.4%.
The statistics
Shnoor said that the statistics indicate that the healthcare system would face a lot of burden. He said that while the burden would go up, the infrastructure has not seen the necessary increases.
There has not been an increase in the supply of hospital beds or the number of doctors. He said that more doctors need to be recruited and they should start working on this before it is too late.
Many experts who are not part of the study have also expressed similar concerns. A health economist, Prof. Gabi Bin-Nun, who helped establish the National Insurance Law in Israel, also spoke up.
He said that for years Israel had been a country that had a young population and its elderly population was lower as opposed to other OECD countries, but it is now changing.
The experts
He said that by 2030, the number of elderly would increase dramatically and the health system would be impacted in a number of ways, which includes the hospitals, community and more.
A professor at Ben Gurion University, Bin-Nun, also worked for the Health Ministry for 30 years. He stated that he was worried about the current situation as well, even before the elderly population sees a major growth.
He stated that even right now, the healthcare system in Israel is under a great deal of stress and needs attention, even before the elderly population has increased.
Therefore, he believes that fulfilling the needs of the population would become a lot harder in the future.
He stated that they require more doctors and nurses as well as hospital beds, along with more equipment, for providing treatment to the population.
He also added that it was not just the health system that will have needs, but the welfare services will also require change.
