The sociologists Ginn and Arber (1995) have drawn a parallel between the
past invisibility of gender and present day invisibility of aging and later life.
Although they refer specifically to the situation in Britain, the invisibility of
the elderly population reflects the situation in most low income countries,
not only within countries but also in relation to the global discourse. This is
reflected in the fact that most gerontological research is focused in the high
income nations (Kinsella 1996; Neysmith 1990), despite nearly 60% of the
world’s elderly population living in the low income regions of the world and
the rapid increase of elderly in these regions compared to the industrialized
world (Kalache 1996; Restrepo & Rozental 1994). Many low income nations
lack concrete social and health policy relevant for their elderly populations
(Kalache 1996; Tracy 1991).