recognising the medical needs of the elderly.

Andrew Martin also recommended that a home care service for both the elderly and terminally ill be organised as soon as possible.

Mr. Martin made these suggestions during the Hamilton Lions Club's weekly luncheon at the Pier Six Complex on Front Street.

"We must call out to our political leaders today to form a clear and decisive policy which will be backed by implementation and not rhetoric,'' he said.

"The Health Care Review Report is 18 months old and nothing has been done to address its urgent recommendations.'' Mr. Martin was referring to the report led by Independent Sen. Alf Oughton back in May, 1996.

The report included suggestions that immediate action be taken to expand the Hospital Insurance Programme, stretch the Bermuda Health Plan to cover retirees, regulate health care fees, and list home care services in insurance benefits.

Mr. Martin warned: "If this action is not taken, there is a very real prospect that many people in our community will not be able to fund their medical costs and residential care needs when they get old, even if there will by then be sufficient facilities on the Island to meet the expected demand.'' He explained that although people were now living longer and retiring earlier, the down side was that medical expenses were continuing to increase.

He also said by the year 2020, one third of the Island's population -- 18,000 people -- will be retirees over the age of 55 who will be at a higher risk of requiring medical attention.

"Taken together, the effect of these factors will produce a potentially disastrous situation for a large number of people in our community,'' Mr.

Martin warned. "The community as a whole will have to respond to these increased demands.

"The most obvious responses will be the dedication of public resources to expand the public care facilities for the elderly, new private nursing homes, and a home care service.'' He added that the Friends of Hospice and other charities with similar objectives must begin to prepare for such a future.

"It will soon become increasingly necessary for families to look after their elderly and terminally ill relatives at home.'' "These families will need training and counselling in how to cope with the demands of looking after sick and elderly relatives, as well as providing the basic needs of cooking appropriate foods, feeding, washing, dressing and comforting them,'' Mr. Martin pointed out.

"It is our hope that in the future there will be a fully developed home care service of counsellors who will work with patients and families in the community to train care givers in basic techniques of keeping their elderly or infirm relatives comfortable and happy in their home environment, rather than looking at the public sector or private nursing homes to fulfil these needs.'' Mr. Martin noted that the manpower resources existed within charitable and volunteer organisations. But he said without a collective effort between them, "all the reforms in the world would not be enough to achieve a successful and comprehensive health care service''.

"The charity of giving for the sick and dying is a cause which touches the whole community... .,'' he stressed. "This is, after all, only a reflection of what we have always known to be true: Charity begins at home.'' SENIOR SR HEALTH HTH