[Aging: a new dimension in health in Mexico]

The epidemiologic and demographic transitions have resulted in demographic aging of the Mexican population, increasing the absolute number and percentage of the elderly population. While in 1990, 3.1 million of persons were 65 and older constituting 3.7% of the country's population, these figures are projected to be 15.2 million and 11.7% by 2030. The growing demands on health care that this process involves will be centred on chronic and degenerative diseases and disabilities. Existing information indicates that health conditions and disabilities have greater incidences after the age of 75, and that they occur earlier and have more impact on the female population. Information about mortality organized by causes shows that the oldest population is also experiencing a transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases. These shifts have been observed in recent decades and they continue to occur. The degree of progress depends upon the economic and social situation: thus changes are as diverse and heterogeneous as the socioeconomic conditions within the nation. In any case, the advancing aging process and its relationship with diseases and disabilities points out necessary adjustments within the health system. New circumstances are brought into existence by an increasing importance of morbidity and co-morbidity, creating a need for modification of the models for clinic and hospital care, and the realization that the family maintains its central role as the main resource and care giver for the elderly.