COVID‐19 and Older People in Asia: AWGS Calls to Actions

Lim, Wee‐Shiong; Liang, Chih‐Kuang; Assantachai, Prasert; Auyeung, Tung Wai; Kang, Lin; Lee, Wei‐Ju; Lim, Jae‐Young; Sugimoto, Ken; Akishita, Masahiro; Chia, Shu‐Lih; Chou, Ming‐Yueh; Ding, Yew‐Yoong; Iijima, Katsuya; Jang, Hak Chul; Kawashima, Shuji; Kim, Miji; Kojima, Taro; Kuzuya, Masafumi; Lee, Jenny; Lee, Sang Yoon; Lee, Yunhwan; Peng, Li‐Ning; Wang, Ninie Y.; Wang, Yin‐Wei; Won, Chang Won; Woo, Jean; Chen, Liang‐Kung; Arai, Hidenori

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has casted a huge impact on global public health and economy. In this challenging situation, older people are vulnerable to the infection and the secondary effects of the pandemic and need special attentions. To evaluate the impacts of COVID‐19 on older people, it is important to balance the successful pandemic control and active management of secondary consequences. These considerations are especially salient in the Asian context, with its diversity among countries in terms of sociocultural heritage, healthcare setup and availability of resources. Thus, the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia summarized the considerations of Asian countries focusing on responses and difficulties in each country, impacts of health inequity related to COVID‐19 pandemic and proposed recommendations for older people which are germane to the Asian context. More innovative services should be developed to address the increasing demands for new approaches to deliver health care in the difficult times and to establish resilient health care systems for older people. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.