Over 70% of the elderly have an average of 3 or more chronic diseases

Vietnam has over 14.3 million elderly people, accounting for nearly 13% of the population, of which nearly 2.5 million are 80 years old or older. It is forecasted that by 2030, the number of people aged 60 or older will be approximately 18 million.

Statistics show that over 70% of the elderly suffer from an average of 3 or more chronic diseases such as dementia, frailty syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal degeneration...

Mr. Vu Manh Ha - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Health emphasized this at the launching ceremony of the Action Month for the Elderly in 2025 with the theme "Promoting the role of the elderly in the era of national growth", and at the same time implementing the humanitarian program "Bright eyes for the elderly" for the period 2025-2028, organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly in coordination with the Ministry of Health on September 27.

Mr. Ha said that currently, Vietnam has over 14.3 million elderly people, accounting for nearly 13% of the population, of which nearly 2.5 million are 80 years old and over. It is forecasted that by 2030, the number of people aged 60 and over will be approximately 18 million, an increase of nearly 4 million compared to 2024. Besides their important contributions, the elderly also face many challenges, especially the burden of disease and the increasing demand for health care for the elderly.

In particular, eye diseases that cause blindness and visual impairment account for a high percentage, such as cataracts, accounting for 74% of eye diseases that cause blindness, followed by corneal scarring due to trachoma and other causes accounting for 5.6%; glaucoma accounting for 4.0%; age-related macular degeneration 1.4%.

Mr. Vu Manh Ha, Permanent Deputy Minister of Health, spoke at the ceremony. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

In the field of ophthalmology, the Ministry of Health will direct eye specialist facilities, from central to local levels, to increase examination, screening and timely treatment of common diseases in the elderly, especially the elderly in remote, disadvantaged, ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Do Van Chien emphasized that the Party and State always respect, care for, honor and create conditions for the elderly to continue contributing their intelligence and experience to the country's development.

Mr. Do Van Chien called on all levels, sectors and the whole society to pay more attention to the work of the elderly, from perfecting policies and laws, digital transformation, green transformation, to supporting startups and job creation. At the same time, mobilize the community to join hands to support the "Bright Eyes for the Elderly" Program, especially for the elderly in remote areas, islands and ethnic minority areas.

At the ceremony, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly Nguyen Thanh Binh said that this is the 11th year of organizing the Action Month, with many diverse activities such as: sports, culture, arts, health care, legal advice, visiting and giving gifts to the elderly in difficult circumstances.

Currently, the whole country has more than 1 million elderly people participating in grassroots work, over 9 million people directly engaged in production, many of whom have been awarded the title of Labor Hero in the renovation period. The whole country also has more than 9,000 intergenerational self-help clubs and 91,000 cultural, sports and health clubs, attracting about 9 million members. The elderly are also the core force in preserving and promoting national cultural identity.

Responding to the Action Month for the Vietnamese Elderly in 2025, the Ministry of Health and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Elderly Association officially launched the humanitarian program "Bright eyes for the elderly" for the period 2025-2028.

The program aims to raise awareness, screen and promptly treat eye diseases for the elderly, striving for over 90% of the Association's staff to be trained, over 90% of the elderly to be examined and given medicine, and 100% of cataract cases to be treated.

On this occasion, Party and State leaders presented gifts to people over 90 years old and honored organizations and individuals who have made many contributions to the work of caring for the elderly./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tren-70-nguoi-cao-tuoi-mac-trung-binh-tu-3-benh-man-tinh-tro-len-post1064441.vnp