Dr Milind Jani is to be congratulated on his article Living To A Fine Old Age (The Argus, November 2).

He is right in drawing attention to the fact the EU governments must act now to face the challenges of an ageing population.

Firstly, there is an urgent need to introduce a compulsory care insurance scheme so the whole working population can start saving for their care in old age.

This would pay for the nursing and care homes and help in the community that we desperately need.

Secondly, care workers should be held in high esteem by society and adequately trained and rewarded for their work. Those who work in the caring professions have my utmost respect.

I was pleased, too, to see that Dr Jani emphasised the importance of spiritual well-being. As one who works as a part-time honorary chaplain to a local nursing home, I appreciate the importance of the spiritual in the care of the elderly.

We provide for this, not only in words and formal religious services, but also in seeking to be good listeners and by giving people time to express to us their fears and hopes. We also recognise the spiritual and emotional needs of people in the way we care for their bodies.

Most of us will grow old and all of us have to face our own deaths and those of people close to us.

That is why we must do everything to ensure the elderly in our population are given a sense of worth and the knowledge they are part of a caring community.

-Rev John Webster, Gleton Avenue, Hove