How to adapt to population aging?

Vietnam is gradually entering a period of aging population. The aging population not only poses challenges to social security policies and the health system, but also becomes a challenge for each family.

Many elderly people still work to make a living to cover their daily expenses - Photo: NAM TRAN

It is forecasted that by 2038 Vietnam will enter a period of aging population.   With about 21 million elderly people, accounting for nearly 20% of the total population, meaning one in five people is over 60 years old.

Elderly people live with many illnesses

According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Anh, director of the Central Geriatric Hospital, a study at the hospital shows that elderly people in Vietnam after the age of 60 suffer from 2-3 diseases, this number increases to nearly 7 diseases after the age of 80. Sitting in a wheelchair, Mrs. Tran Thi Hoa (85 years old, Hanoi) is taken care of by Ms. Mai - hired by her family - to go down to the reading area at the Central Geriatric Hospital (Hanoi) to relax. No longer lucid, Ms. Hoa's story is repeated in a sigh of relief. Ms. Mai said she has been inpatient at the hospital for more than a year. She has diabetes, bone and joint diseases, senile dementia, respiratory diseases... She has given birth to 2 children, but due to her busy work, she does not have time to take care of her, and she has many diseases, so her family took her to the hospital for treatment for peace of mind. Ms. Mai is hired by her family to take care of her, and the family will visit her on weekends. "Most of the elderly here suffer from many diseases at the same time, some stay in the hospital for a whole year, even longer...", Ms. Mai said. Not only do they have to live with many diseases when they are old, many elderly people still have to struggle to make a living because they do not have pensions and monthly allowances. At 9 pm, after work, Mr. Nguyen Van Son (67 years old, Hanoi) tiredly leads his motorbike into a small rented room. He is currently working as a security guard for a fashion store in Hanoi. Mr. Son said that when he was young, he mainly worked as a mason on construction sites. "In the past 5 years, my health has declined, I no longer have enough strength to endure the sun and rain, so I have to find another job. Through a brokerage company, I work as a security guard for a store with an income of 6 million VND/month. The work is not hard, but the salary is only enough to cover living expenses and food each month. Sometimes I think that if I were unlucky enough to get seriously ill, I would not have money for treatment," Mr. Son said and sighed.

Not only Mr. Son, on the streets and market corners, it is still easy to see the elderly working with a meager income to cover their daily lives. According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs , up to now, Vietnam has about 14.4 million people over retirement age. Of these, there are about 8 million people over retirement age but do not have pensions and monthly allowances.

What is the solution to population aging?

Experts predict that if in 2023, more than 7 people of working age will support 1 elderly person, then by 2036 it will be more than 3 people and by 2049 it will be only more than 2 people. This situation will be even more worrying in families with one child. According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Anh, director of the Central Geriatric Hospital, Vietnam is currently also facing a low birth rate. This will affect the family structure with the "4-2-1" model - that is, 4 people are grandparents, 2 people are parents will expect the care of one person is a child in the family. Mr. Anh also believes that the elderly will be better cared for, with lower costs when cared for by relatives. However, in reality, with the current family structure, the elderly need a suitable health system and support team in the future. "Before becoming elderly, each person needs to take care of their health regularly and practice a healthy lifestyle to reduce the burden of disease in the future. In addition, the health system needs to keep up with the aging population . There needs to be more care centers for the elderly, nursing homes... ", Mr. Anh shared. Talking to Tuoi Tre about this issue, Professor Giang Thanh Long (Faculty of Economics , Hanoi National Economics University) said that adapting to an aging population is an urgent requirement for Vietnam. Lessons learned from countries such as Japan, Korea... show that if there are no timely policies, it will have a huge impact on the economy and society. Professor Long said that to adapt to an aging population, it is necessary to implement many synchronous solutions. In particular, it is necessary to focus on taking care of the health of the elderly and creating jobs and a working environment for the elderly. "In the near future, we will also have to use elderly labor like Japan, South Korea... because the proportion of elderly people in the population structure is increasing. We should learn from the experiences of other countries. For example, some countries encourage businesses to recruit elderly people in some suitable positions, along with tax exemption policies for businesses. Or create jobs and introduce jobs for the elderly, protect and prevent discrimination against the elderly in the working environment... thereby encouraging the elderly to work", said Professor Long.

The Ministry of Health proposed many solutions.

Elderly people face the risk of many diseases - Photo: DUONG LIEU

Faced with the reality of rapid population aging, the Ministry of Health recently submitted a proposal to develop a Population Law, which proposes many solutions related to adapting to an aging population. With the adaptation to an aging population, the Ministry of Health proposed to develop a process and professional guidance on health care and long-term care for the elderly. There are health care service packages for the elderly, long-term care systems for the elderly that are suitable for the characteristics of gender, age, education, culture, socio-economics, and regions and localities. In particular, develop training programs and projects, career transition for pre-elderly workers that are suitable for their needs, health, qualifications, capacity and market demand. Build and create a friendly working environment for the elderly. Implement training programs and projects, career transition for pre-elderly workers; organize training and develop human resources for long-term care for the elderly,... These proposals are assessed by experts as suitable for the aging population situation in Vietnam. However, to implement them, there needs to be budget support and the decisive participation of ministries and branches. Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thich-ung-voi-gia-hoa-dan-so-ra-sao-20240805075305955.htm