EDITORS:
A demographic revolution is quietly unfolding across Africa: On a continent known for its youth, many villages are filling with the old for the first time.
In just 15 years, the number of people 60 and older has ballooned by an estimated 50 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, to about 67 million people. Even more dramatic growth is ahead. The World Health Organization projects 163 million older people in the region by 2050.
In villages and cities dotted throughout this vast continent, though, those making it to old age are finding profound hardship. Pensions are rare, medical care is scarce and poverty is rampant. The wave of older people nonetheless is coming. Advocates worry a catastrophe awaits.
A series of stories by reporter Matt Sedensky and photographer David Goldman explores this trend. Following aid workers for one charity in one African nation, Uganda, they found themes that resonate across the continent, with the joys of reaching old age clashing with the many challenges.
The following coverage is planned:
TUESDAY, 7 a.m. GMT
A wide selection of photos and video packages will be available, including photos for each story.
AGING AFRICA: Longer lives should be a cause for celebration in a place torn by war, decimated by disease and choked by poverty. But in countries across Africa, old age is coming with profound hardship, with pensions rare, medical care scarce, and many living in deep poverty.
AGING AFRICA-LONGER LIVES: Advocates warn Africa's age boom could overwhelm families, communities, and fragile health systems. In a land known for its massive population of the young, some are sounding alarms that the demographic shift could amount to a human catastrophe.
AGING AFRICA-DEMENTIA: Diagnoses for Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia are increasing but in many rural villages that are home to the old, symptoms like confusion and wandering are widely misunderstood. Desperate families aren't sure what to do.
AGING AFRICA-POVERTY: As Africa’s population of older people grows, poverty is a constant companion. Many older adults must keep working — digging gardens, weaving mats, or hauling firewood. “Old age is not something to brag about here," one woman says. "Poverty strikes when you’re old.”
AGING AFRICA-WITCHCRAFT: In villages across Africa, accusations of witchcraft lead to beatings, banishment and even death, with the victims overwhelmingly older people. In some cases, dementia is at the heart of the accusation. Witchery is a convenient answer in communities where belief in the supernatural is wide.
AGING AFRICA-OLD & YOUNG: On the world’s youngest continent, the lives of children and elders are intertwined. In homes across Africa, grandparents are raising grandchildren even as they struggle to care for themselves, filling in after parents have died, disappeared, or left to find work.
AGING AFRICA-HIV: They survived HIV. Now they face old age. A generation for whom HIV was once a death sentence is now growing old in Africa, thanks to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs that have contributed to a boom of older people. But survival has come with a new set of challenges.
AGING AFRICA-HEALTH CARE: With few insurance or public health programs across the continent, even a simple diagnosis can be unaffordable. Minor conditions go untreated until they turn deadly. Some seniors die in agony, unable to pay for basic treatment or even to arrange transportation from their village to a doctor.
AGING AFRICA-WALKING FOR WATER: Well into old age, many Africans face an arduous daily task: A daily walk for water. In rural villages without running water, they set out up steep hills and slippery paths, hauling heavy cans home. For them, gathering water is a chore that knows no age.
TUESDAY, 4 p.m. GMT
— AGING AFRICA-PHOTO ESSAY
WEDNESDAY, noon GMT
— AGING AFRICA-OLD & YOUNG-PHOTO ESSAY
— The AP
