On May 31, at the scientific conference of Military Hospital 175, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duc Cong, Vice President of the Vietnam Geriatrics Association, said that according to the General Department of Population and Family Planning ( Ministry of Health ), Vietnam began the population aging phase in 2011 with the number of people aged 65 and over accounting for 7% of the total population.
In 2021, the number of elderly people over 65 years old in Vietnam accounted for 8.3% of the total population (8.16 million elderly people). By 2025, Vietnam will have 16.1 million elderly people, accounting for over 16% of the population.
According to Dr. Cong, Vietnam has the fastest population aging rate in Asia and ranks first among 10 countries in the world . The transition time from population aging to old population in our country is only 17-20 years, shorter than in many other countries.
It is forecasted that the number of elderly people in Vietnam will reach 25.2 million by 2069. Vietnam will enter the aging population period from 2036. At that time, the proportion of the population aged 65 and over will reach 14.2% of the total population.
Doctor Cong said that the characteristics of diseases in the elderly in our country are multiple diseases (usually 3.5 to 4 or more chronic diseases when hospitalized), diseases that require long-term monitoring and medication, and the use of many types of drugs.
The elderly are divided into 3 groups: Successful aging elderly (active, working well), normal aging elderly (still able to function) and impaired aging elderly (paralyzed).
The elderly will be assessed for functional activities such as bathing themselves, getting dressed from the closet, going to the toilet by themselves, moving out of bed by themselves, controlling bowel movements or urination, and getting food by themselves. If they get 8/8 points, the elderly will be classified as good, 4/8 points will be classified as impaired.
The group of elderly people classified as very healthy are those who are agile, full of vitality and actively engage in regular physical activity. Compared to people of the same age, they are the healthiest.
The healthy group is usually people who do not have symptoms of progressive disease but are not as healthy as group 1. They are often physically active or very active depending on the time, such as seasonal activity.
The healthy group included people whose disease was well controlled and who did not engage in regular activities other than walking.
According to Dr. Cong, the social network of elderly care providers is a decisive factor in whether they can live at home or need to be hospitalized. Elderly caregivers also need to be screened regularly for depression and referred to counseling and support groups when necessary.
Strengthening the elderly care system
At the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society's monitoring session on the implementation of population policies and laws in Ho Chi Minh City for the period 2018 - 2024 in April 2025, Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health , said that despite the rapid population aging, full access to consulting and health care services for the elderly in Ho Chi Minh City is still limited.
Ho Chi Minh City recommends that the central government should develop, perfect and synchronously implement policies for the elderly in relation to economic development and ensuring social security.
At the same time, develop policies to encourage and support the elderly to participate in economic activities, especially the elderly with high qualifications, expertise and skills (adapting to the silver economic trend).
Reform the pension system, diversify insurance types, especially voluntary old-age insurance, suitable to the contribution and payment capacity of participants...
In addition, territorial spatial planning must adapt to population aging. In particular, there needs to be policies to support and attract economic sectors to invest in nursing home services.
Source: https://baolaocai.vn/toc-do-gia-hoa-dan-so-cua-viet-nam-nhanh-nhat-chau-a-post402637.html
Comment (0)