VOL. 68, NO. 2 - AAFI-AFICS, Geneva - UNOG

The percentage of this group who are without the support of their spouse or children will increase much less
by comparison. On the assumption that their state of health remains constant, the increase will be of the
order of 25% by 2030
This means that in the future, the number of those having need of professional services - including
residential care - will grow much less quickly than those having family support. Moreover, an improvement in
their state of health could greatly affect the need for help. In such a scenario, not only would the growth of
the incapacitated population be almost halved ( falling from 72% to 41%) but the population having only
family help would reduce or remain stable everywhere except in the Netherlands and Finland.
Those having a spouse and children support will increase the most
If having a partner or a child makes one, a priori, less vulnerable to incapacity, the life of those whose
spouses are in ill health or whose children are not available can become critical. Not being able to count on
the support of a child is typical for aged incapacitated women. But the increase in such cases will be smaller
than for the population as a whole. Those having a spouse as sole support will increase markedly. Finally,
from now until 2030, those having both spouse and child support will increase most significantly.
Nevertheless the responsibility for those who are incapacitated does not only depend on the increase in the
numbers of older people.
In the majority of cases, the increase in the numbers of those suffering from incapacity will, in the next thee
decades, be made up of those having the potential support of family members. Nevertheless caution
remains. Moreover, the growth in the numbers of very old incapacitated people, the increase in male
support and the more frequent survival of couples in which both partners are incapacitated are among the
factors which will increase the calls for professional support. In the future, even more than today, policies for
managing incapacity will have to make "help to the helpers" an even greater priority.
Source INED - Paris: Population and Society - Joëlle Gaymu.
ALTERNATIVE MEDECINES
INTERVIEW WITH DR. TEE TONG ANG (by courtesy of UN Special)
Over two hundred people, UN staff members, health professionals and interested persons attended the first
lecture organized by the “UN Club Health and Wellness”. It was delivered by Dr. Ang, from Singapore, who
was visiting Geneva.
Founder of the Chinese Nature Cure Institute in Singapore, Dr. Ang explained how to preserve one’s health
and promote self-healing by opting for a holistic approach based on an appropriate and personalized food
diet which takes into account seasons and the person’s current own condition, the use of specific herbs,
specific exercise, acupuncture, self-massage (acupressure) and meditation. He then presented the new
Chinese medical approach based on the findings of Professor Yingqing Zhang of Shandong University
(China) which demonstrate that the information of the entire organism is contained in embryo cells. By
stimulating precise acupuncture points, it is possible to activate the growth factors which ensure a proper cell
differentiation and full development cycle. This makes it theoretically possible to repair damaged tissues and
bones, re-establish normal biological cell processes, including in tumours, regulate proper hormonal
secretions, trigger body growth and balance body functions. While research is still underway, Dr. Ang
showed examples of remarkable results already achieved to-date in treating hard cases and heavy
pathologies where all other treatments had failed. This has led to the development of “ECIWO-acupuncture”
which complements traditional practice developed over thousands of years (see here-below the fourth
question in the interview Dr. Ang gave to UN Special on the occasion of his lecture at the Palais des
Nations).
Professor T.T. Ang began studying and exploring acupuncture in 1961, travelling extensively to various
institutes and hospitals in Hong Kong and various regions of China. He is among the pioneer research
fellows in the new field of ECIWO biology and its applications in medicine. T.T. Ang is also an expert in Taiji
and Qigong.
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