It is a February morning in Belgrade. The sidewalk is icy as Ikonija Stamenkovic, 71, picks her way, tentative step by step, home from nearby shopping. A widow, she lives alone. Her husband died seven years ago, and her son lives with his family in France. He visits during the summer.

"When you get older you're not good to anyone, not to yourself or others," she says, the sorrow palpable in her voice.

Three years ago, Stamenkovic had surgery and was bedridden for six months. Since then, the Centre for Social Work has cared for her.

For 30 euros a month, an aide or "hostess" comes to her apartment daily, except for weekends. She spends two hours a day -- bringing Ikonija lunch, cleaning up, helping to pay bills, and handling doctor visits and personal care.

Stamenkovic is one of 87 elderly people in central the Belgrade municipality Old City who use the services of this programme, "Help at Home". Just as many elderly are on the waiting list. Limited funding does not permit the hiring of additional aides.

Stamenkovic says that her son regularly sends money and phones every few days.

"My son asked me to go with him, to live there, in Toulon. But I can't. Here is where I spent my entire life, both good and bad, and I don't want to bother them," she tells SETimes.

Gerontology centres exist in smaller towns too, but their services are insufficient for the large elderly population.

Serbia ranks fourth in the world in terms of population over the age of 65 -- about 1.2 million people, fully one sixth of Serbia's population.

Right now, 2,000 people in Belgrade use some form of assistance provided by the Gerontology Centre of Belgrade, and 862 people are waiting for that help, says centre manager Simo Pesin.

Complicating the situation is the fact that the majority of old people are among the country's poorest, eking a living off very small pensions. The average is around 200 euros a month, and the lowest is only 80 euros. These pensioners cannot even afford basic foods. Paying for private agencies to provide in-home care is not possible.

In 2006, the government adopted a National Strategy on Ageing and mandated that it be implemented until 2015. The strategy mapped out improvements in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres, but in reality, has achieved very little given the ongoing economic difficulties.

Thanks to donations from the British and Norwegian governments, 33 municipalities in Serbia have increased the number of home heath aides, says Ljiljana Lucic, secretary of state for social affairs in the ministry of labour and social policy.

Studies show that the number of elderly with no income is alarming.

There are an estimated 400,000 people over the age of 65 with no pension. They live off the generosity of others -- relatives, neighbours, friends.

In deepest poverty are about 100,000 elderly people who have no source of money.

Interviewers and volunteers who have gone door to door at these households describe sad and scary images. They encountered the very old, most of them ill, living in abandoned villages, eating only what they grow in their garden or what neighbours managed to provide.

They have no financial assistance from the state, because to receive any type of financial aid, one must obtain at least 20 different documents. Moreover, the state rejects any applicant with half a hectare of land, anywhere. These abandoned elderly never go to the doctor because they have no health insurance. They die alone and often are found long after.

"I cannot forget the old married couple from the village of Jalovik Izvor in eastern Serbia," Mladen Jankovic, a worker with the Gerantology Centre in Knjazevac tells SETimes.

"They are over 80 years old, living alone in a house without electricity. They have two sheep and a small garden -- growing only potatoes -- and pick mushrooms in the woods."

This village is only 35km from the gerantology centre, but the couple has no money to pay for help and will continue to subsist as best they can.

Serbia's situation may be growing more common worldwide. UN experts predict that by 2050 -- for the first time in human history -- the number of elderly around the globe will exceed the number of young. Analysts say governments will have to anticipate needs and ramp up resources accordingly.

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setime...4/reportage-01