Encourage the development of elderly care facilities

On October 17, at the Government headquarters, the Vietnam National Committee on Aging held a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long, Chairman of the Committee, to deploy work for the elderly in the coming time.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long chaired the meeting.

Information at the meeting showed that the elderly care policy has covered everything from social security, healthcare , culture, sports, transportation, law to spiritual life, contributing to improving the quality of life and promoting the role of the elderly.

However, according to the Ministry of Health , our country has entered the population aging stage, from 9.5 million elderly people in 2014 to 16.5 million in 2025 and is forecast to become a country with an aging population by 2036. Population aging poses many challenges in terms of health, social security, labor and community services, while the lives of a part of the elderly, especially in remote areas, are still difficult.

Mr. Truong Xuan Cu, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly, said that we currently have about 500 care facilities with 12,000 people being cared for, which is a very modest number. Regarding the issue of promotion, the silver economy (or silver hair economy, this concept describes activities, products and services developed to meet the needs of the elderly) is being developed in many countries. Therefore, the Government needs to develop a project on developing the silver economy as well as promptly have policies and solutions to encourage the development of elderly care facilities.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long suggested a strong shift in policy thinking, focusing on policies to care for and promote the role of the elderly. The Deputy Prime Minister said that there are two issues that arise when encouraging the private sector to build elderly care facilities: land and tax. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify this policy to increase the number of elderly care facilities.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Health to urgently review and strengthen the network of geriatric hospitals in provinces and cities, first of all, to have a project to evaluate this geriatric healthcare system, to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

LAM NGUYEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/khuyen-khich-phat-trien-cac-co-so-cham-soc-nguoi-cao-tuoi-post818572.html