June 2024

Discrimination and Barriers to Well-Being: The State of the LGBTQI+ Community in 2022

By Caroline Medina & Lindsay Mahowald LGBTQI+ people and other “sexual and gender diverse”1 people experience structural and interpersonal discrimination that adversely affects their well-being and drives disparate outcomes across crucial areas of life.2 The current patchwork of nondiscrimination laws in states across the country and existing gaps in federal civil rights laws leave millions of LGBTQI+ people without protection from discrimination.3 The Biden-Harris administration, since the beginning of its tenure, has taken numerous actions across executive agencies to bolster nondiscrimination protections in...

Providing inclusive services and care for LGBT people

By National LGBT health education center A visit to a health care facility can make people nervous for any number of reasons. Some people may be uncomfortable revealing sensitive information to health care professionals who need it to provide certain services. Others find it difficult to talk about private health concerns. Creating an environment in which these conversations are more comfortable for the patient is an important goal for all health care staff. Because health care is for everyone, we...

February 2024

Aging Europe

By Eurostat In this interactive report, Eurostat presents us with the most relevant statistics on the aging population of the European Union, covering aspects such as working life, living conditions, access to health and income. All these statistics are accessible at the regional level and by country in the European Union. Get the report here

Ghana. SSNIT supports pensioners’ healthcare with GHC1million

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has presented a cheque for GHS 1 million to the National Pensioners Association’s (NPA) medical scheme. The contribution is in fulfilment of a commitment by SSNIT’s management made in 2017 to prioritise the well-being of pensioners under the SSNIT Scheme in the country. Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, Director-General of SSNIT, speaking at the ceremony in Accra, reaffirmed the Trust’s support for the activities and welfare of the Association. The commitment, he stressed, demonstrated the Trust’s...

December 2023

Priorities for social security Global 2022 Trends, challenges and solutions

By International Social Security Association The report Priorities for social security – Global 2022: Trends, challenges and solutions presents a global perspective on social security developments and trends, challenges and innovations, based on the series of reports for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. The global report is presented in a new and interactive format, a digital, web-based publication that allows members of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) to easily navigate between sections of interest. The...

Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection: Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for All

By World Bank Group Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection: Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for All, known as the Social Protection and Jobs Compass updates the World Bank strategy for social protection amid rapid change both within the sector and beyond. The Compass puts at its heart the vision of universal social protection. It recognizes that the progressive realization of universal social protection, which ensures access to social protection for all whenever and however they need it, is critical...

November 2023

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World

By Axel Börsch-Supan & Courtney C. Coile This ninth phase of the International Social Security project, which studies the experiences of twelve developed countries, examines the effects of public pension reform on employment at older ages. In the past two decades, men’s labor force participation at older ages has increased, reversing a long-term pattern of decline; participation rates for older women have increased dramatically as well. While better health, more education, and changes in labor-supply behavior of married couples may...

Ghana. GMA demands retirement salary for members, improved conditions of service

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is demanding that government put in place measures that will ensure all of its members continue to receive a salary even after retiring. The President of the Association, Dr. Frank Serebour tabled the demand at the 65th General Meeting of the Association on Monday, November 13. In his address, Dr. Frank Serebour said the conditions of service of doctors must also be improved. “We need to be protected from workplace hazards, we need to be given accessible...

Aging, Healthcare System, and Interest Rates

By Reona Hagiwara Over the past few decades, the Japanese economy has experienced the widening gap between returns on liquid bonds and illiquid capital (i.e., the liquidity premium) due to a secular decline in the real interest rate and a slight increase in the capital return. This paper explores the role of the health or medical expenditure risk in the increase in the premium, using a general equilibrium overlapping generations model with heterogeneous agents that differ in health status and...

October 2023

Iran’s Health Ministry Warns of Ageing Population

Iran's Deputy Health Minister Hossein Farshidi issued a warning about the country's ageing population, claiming it will double within the next 20 years. Speaking on World Elderly Day Farshidi said the demographic change is happening much faster than in many developed countries, where it took over a century to see such a rise in the elderly population. He attributed the trend to global increases in life expectancy and significant reductions in fertility rates during the 20th century. He stressed that Iran has experienced similar...