A/HRC/14/31 the State to guarantee timely and appropriate access to health care and address underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and drinkable water or an adequate supply of safe food. 93. The living conditions of persons living in extreme poverty clearly impact on their health status throughout their life. Higher incidence of ill-health and premature mortality correlates with socioeconomic factors in all regions of the world. Ageing increases a person’s susceptibility to illness and disability, and this phenomenon is further aggravated by poverty as they are less likely to be able to afford health care and more likely to maintain poor nutritional diets. They are also more likely to have engaged in physically demanding work for a living. Therefore, policies must take into account that older persons living in poverty may have a greater need for health care. 94. In such circumstances, receiving a social pension can increase access to health care, especially in the long run as it represents a stable and predictable source of income. However, social pensions can only positively affect older persons’ enjoyment of the right to health if adequate health-care services are in place. Research shows, however, that public health policies often prioritize younger women and children and lack consideration of the specific needs of older people.39 Thus, health services are not geared towards fulfilling these needs and there can be significant gaps in the provision of services. This is particularly true about long-term care, for which resources and capacities are limited everywhere. I. Ensuring gender equality 95. Non-contributory pensions are the most efficient means of ensuring the right to social security for older women and compensating them for their years of unpaid or inadequately paid work. However, to ensure equal access by women to a social pension, special measures must be implemented to overcome possible barriers to older women caused by structural discrimination, such as lack of access to adequate documentation and identification; difficulties to approach administrations or lack of gender sensitive social services. 96. In some countries, structural discrimination against women and increased competition for family resources from younger members often means older women lose control of assets once owned by their husbands and are left without a source of income. In extreme cases, they are subjected to accusations of witchcraft. The context in which accusations of witchcraft are made is complex, resulting from deep-seated cultural beliefs, and the need to apportion blame and seek redress for a negative event, such as a death in the family or crop failure and poverty. Nevertheless, the low status of women and their inability to defend themselves makes them the primary targets of such violence. 97. In such contexts, the income security and empowerment that a social pension provides is vital. However, the importance of social pension for women must not absolve States of their duty to take other measures to ensure gender equality and protect women against gender-based violence. In most countries, women’s vulnerability to poverty will not change with a social pension alone. Measures such as access to land and economic resources for women, fair inheritance rights and full legal capacity are essential to improve their standard of living. 39 18 Di McIntyre, “Health Police and Older People in Africa” in Peter Lloyd-Sherlock (ed.), Living Longer (UNRISD, 2004). GE.10-12583