In human history there have never been as many elderly people on our planet as there are today. In fact, the current global population of those 65 and older outnumbers the number of children in the world 5 to 1.

Mansoor Parvaiz, vice president of incontinence care at Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), says the demographic trend of a large aging population will have an economic, social and political impact on the world in the near future.

“Political leaders in many developed countries already face incredibly difficult challenges today and will be forced to find solutions for how to care for the growing number of elderly with limited resources in the future,” Parvaiz says.

He notes that older people and their families will be an increasingly important force in politics. The elderly want to have a dignified life, he says, while at the same time healthcare must be cost efficient .

SCA has the knowledge and ambition to be a player in a market with an ever-growing elderly population. In China SCA already has a program for professional family nursing. Another example is solutions for incontinence – one of the most common problems that older people face, and often a factor in the decision to move from one’s own home into institutional care. TENA is SCA’s brand for incontinence products and plays a key role in the work to develop increasingly innovative products and services.

“The potential of TENA is huge, even in markets where we today have a high market share, due to low penetration of the category. In general terms you can say that the penetration of the potential market in developed countries is around 20 percent, and in developing countries below 5 percent,” Parvaiz says.

But incontinence is a sensitive subject and still something of a taboo in most parts of the world. TENA is committed to building awareness and knowledge about the critical issue of management of incontinence with family members and healthcare professionals.

“It mustn’t be shameful to ask for help or use incontinence products – just like any other medical condition, there are dignified solutions that exist to improve the quality of life,” Parvaiz says, pointing to a number of activities to decrease the shame factor.

“TENA is working with breaking the taboo through media such as TV and print ads. We are also doing it through lobbying in the political arena and through events like GFI, the Global Forum on Incontinence, where experts from all over the globe participate to share their learning and knowledge.

If there is a considerable amount of secrecy around women suffering from incontinence, it is a real taboo when it comes to men. Only about 20 percent of all men with incontinence problems use any of the products on the market for protection. Many are not even aware that there are products available. They try to solve the problem in other ways.

When it comes to tomorrow’s elderly, who are going to be a lot more active and healthy, the right tone is needed – one far removed from a condescending pat on the head.

“Today’s new seniors, the baby boomer generation, don’t see retirement as a slowdown phase,” says Liselotte Andersson, SCA’s global director of consumer and customer research and understanding. “On the contrary, most of them want to continue their socially stimulating life and fill it with meaningful experiences as long as their health allows. They want products that can make them maintain their ways of life.”