Iran's population threatened by "aging tsunami"

Iran's Ministry of Health says country's population may soon be threatened by the "aging tsunami", Mehr news agency reported.

Head of the Health Ministry's Department for the Elderly, Parisa Taheri said that according to the data of the World Health Organization, the world's population of people aged 65 and over is higher than those of 5 years of age and under.

Zahedian said that the young population in Iran now accounts for the majority of the overall population, and they will soon surpass the 30-year range.

"In the future, the social costs for caring for the elder population will be quite high, if the overall flow of younger population does not increase,"Zahedian said.

He noted that during 1981-1986, which was the growth peak in Iran, the country had 2.2-2.3 million annual birthrate.

"Now, the annual birthrate is some 1.3 million, with some 400,000 people dying annually in the country," Zahedian said.

He noted that by 2041, the number of older people in Iran can reach from 18 to 20 million out of 70 plus million population.

After the growth rate peak in the 80's, Iranian government started the population growth control program, that was to go for the next 20 years.

In the recent years, current Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly criticized such policies, and said additional programs to encourage more families to have babies were needed.

As a result, under Ahmadinejad the government said it would be opening a new bank account with $1000 in it for every new baby born in a family in Iran. this program however did not last very long due ot insufficient budget funds.

Yet the government did not withdraw from the idea, as in 2011 a special bill was issued for adjusting population growth control program once in every 5 years, considering country's politics, economy, security, and so on.