Vietnam strives to deal with ageing population

With the theme focused on community care for the elderly, Vietnam aims to provide older citizens with a happy and healthy life. If such a commitment is to become a reality, policies providing care services and job opportunities are vital to help the elderly benefit from better living conditions.

With the theme focused on community care for the elderly, Vietnam aims to provide older citizens with a happy and healthy life. If such a commitment is to become a reality, policies providing care services and job opportunities are vital to help the elderly benefit from better living conditions.

"Mạn's sisters are not married. They live with and take care of each other. Our volunteer group has 13 members and is divided into 3 teams alternately visiting them", said Hoang Thi Lan, Resident, Chi Lang Bac Commune, Thanh Mien Dist., Hai Duong Prov.

Elderly care activities are one of the activities of the club in the village. This is a model established by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and it aims to help older people in rural areas improve their health, earnings and living conditions.

According to many experts, with its currently ageing, Vietnam will reach the stage of the fully-aging population in the next 15-20 years.

The Vietnamese population is ageing much faster. The French population took 115 years, while Vietnam has only taken a few dozen years.

The experience of other countries is very important for Vietnam to provide social welfare programmes for older people, especially in rural areas.

In order to deal with an aging population, the Vietnamese government has established the National Committee on Ageing in the period 2012-2020. Provinces need to provide the aged with health care knowledge and skills, promote their roles in society and encourage the old to remain engaged in social activities.