A/HRC/42/43/Add.2 74. While extended family units have started disintegrating in Mozambique, there is still a strongly held view that families should look after older persons. Older persons are placed in old-age support centres when it becomes impossible for them to stay with their families or within their communities.34 75. The prevalence of dementia, insofar as it is diagnosed, is about 3.5 per cent. 35 Mozambique supported the global action plan on the public health response to dementia for the period 2017–2025, which was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the World Health Assembly.36 76. While geriatric care is included in the training of health workers, insufficient specialized knowledge on the part of staff and the lack of equipment and medication result in health staff often being unprepared to address the health concerns of older persons. V. Conclusions and recommendations A. Overall strategy and findings 77. The Independent Expert notes that older persons are a pillar of Mozambican society as custodians of cultures, languages and knowledge. She notes their important contribution, including as heads of households, which has to be fully recognized. She commends the adoption by the Government of important policies, instruments and programmes to protect the rights of older persons in Mozambique, such as the national policy on older persons, the basic social subsidy programme and the Law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Older Persons. She encourages the Government to ensure that its laudable commitment translates into effective implementation, while recognizing resource and capacity constraints. 78. She welcomes the active engagement and commitment of Mozambique with regard to the realization of the human rights of older persons, not only at the national and regional levels but also at the global level. She encourages it to further contribute to a deepening of the discussions at the Human Rights Council and the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, based on its national experience with policy and normsetting towards actively shaping the global society of tomorrow. 79. Demographic change in Mozambique is beginning to take shape and the challenges associated with an ageing society warrant immediate implementation action to foster social cohesion. The Independent Expert stresses that fighting old-age poverty is an efficient means of securing stability and contributing to achieving relative prosperity and social peace, despite the structurally rooted inequality and destitution levels of parts of the population. 80. While applauding the adoption of a national policy on older persons as early as 2002, the Independent Expert stresses the need for a multidisciplinary approach when addressing the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons. The policy takes a human rights-based approach and recognizes many of the challenges faced by older persons in Mozambique. The Independent Expert acknowledges that with the adoption of a human rights-based policy, Mozambique has already implemented one of the core recommendations she has addressed to States. She calls on the Government to deploy every effort possible to put into practice the strategy for implementation of the policy. 34 35 36 See report from the Government of Mozambique submitted under article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, para. 303. Deborah Oliveira and others, “Reducing the number of people with dementia through primary prevention in Mozambique, Brazil and Portugal: an analysis of population-based data” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (January 2019). Available from www.who.int/mental_health/neurology/dementia/action_plan_2017_2025/en/. 13