This report updates the information compiled in 1998 on the policies and programmes for the elderly in each member state of the Western Pacific Region. The profiles contain: demographic data and health profiles; national policies and programmes; and resources for older persons. The report also highlights the importance of integration of aging and health concerns with health systems development as many of the problems of older persons are inextricably linked to the more basic problems of limited access to care, poor quality of services and lack of financial and material resources to meet the needs of this growing sector of the population.