<scp>COVID</scp>‐19 and older people in Asia: Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia calls to action
Wee Shiong Lim, Chih‐Kuang Liang, Prasert Assantachai, Tung Wai Auyeung, Lin Kang, Wei‐Ju Lee, Jae‐Young Lim, Ken Sugimoto, Masahiro Akishita, Shu‐Lih Chia, Ming‐Yueh Chou, Yew‐Yoong Ding, Katsuya Iijima, Hak Chul Jang, Shuji Kawashima, Miji Kim, Taro Kojima, Masafumi Kuzuya, Jenny Lee, Sang Yong Lee, Yunhwan Lee, Li‐Ning Peng, Ninie Y. Wang, Yin‐Wei Wang, Chang Won Won, Jean Woo, Liang‐Kung Chen, Hidenori Arai
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has casted a huge impact on global public health and the economy. In this challenging situation, older people are vulnerable to the infection and the secondary effects of the pandemic and need special attention. 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 particularly 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 the 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 healthcare in these difficult times and to establish resilient healthcare systems for older people. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 9999: n/a-n/a.