INTRODUCTION.(Brief Article)

The demographic transitions that took place in the developed countries during years gone by have now shifted scene to the developing countries--with the difference that, in the latter case, similar processes are being compacted in a shorter time frame. By 2020, 700 million of the world's population will be 65 and over. Two-thirds of these elderly will be in the developing countries. The elderly segment in the world is the fastest growing group. Moreover, the ageing of the world will be predominantly a female issue. For some developing countries the problem of ageing is imminent, for others it would be after several decades.

Most of the developing countries, compared to the developed world, are in a comparatively poorer economic condition. Thus, the greying of the Third World (whose impact will become salient from the third decade of the new millennium), is fraught with a host of problems, some of which appear insurmountable at this point in time. …