Indigenous people want to reduce the years to access the pension for older adults

The National Indigenous Articulation for a Dignified Life (ANIVID) presented to the Senate a proposal to modify the Pension Law for Older Adults, with the objective of reducing the age for indigenous people to access the pension to 50 years.

ANIVID brings together communities, local, regional, national organizations and clans from both regions of Paraguay. According to the study, it was found that the general population dies on average around 68 years of age, while indigenous people die at 37 years of age.

“Through our work in the territory, as Anivid, we know that the majority of indigenous people, at the age of 50, already suffer from multiple chronic health conditions that make it impossible for them to work or contribute to family support,” said María Luisa Duarte, General Coordinator of ANIVID.

To this must be added the low health coverage in the communities, the significant distances to a Health Post or a Family Health Unit (FHU), the high costs of medicines and the mobility difficulties of older adults, they question from the organization.

Likewise, the need to increase the amount of the pension was raised, which is currently equivalent to 25% of the legal minimum wage and the proposal is for it to be equivalent to 50%.

“This has to do, in addition to what has been described, with the fact that the majority of indigenous communities (66%) are in poverty and 34% in extreme poverty,” they pointed out.

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