The official logo of International Women’s Day is decorated in purple. The official colour of International Women’s Day is purple. Purple is a colour that symbolises dignity and justice. Purple inspires hope and vision. Don’t forget to wear something purple this Thursday.

Similarly, we too wear purple for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Elder abuse and neglect (EAN) is a critical global health issue. Approximately one in ten older person experiences abuse, exploitation and/or neglect. Just as the rest of the world, Malaysia is ageing – we too are getting old. As our lifespan prolongs and fertility drops, our elders are increasing – a great achievement of public health. But there is one problem: we are not loving them enough. A group of researchers from SPM Department launched the Prevent Elder Abuse and negleCt initiativE (PEACE), aiming at addressing this issue. Members of the SPM Department include – Assoc Prof Dr Noran N Hairi, Assoc Prof Dr Claire Choo Wan Yuen, Assoc Prof Dr Farizah Hairi, Assoc Prof Dr Ng Chiu Wan and Ms Devi Peramalah. Our article in the Cochrane Systematic Review entitled “Interventions for preventing abuse in the elderly” is referenced by the United States CDC – Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Elder Abuse Prevention Strategies. Health Evidence.org (Canada) independently scored the quality of the Elder Abuse Cochrane Review a perfect 10 of 10 – ‘Strong Evidence’.