Nation must plan to care for ageing populace

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam must prepare to care for an ever increasing number of elderly, advises Vietnam Social Science Institute's Foreign Affairs Department Deputy Director Dang Nguyen Anh.

" Vietnam 's population will be old before the country becomes wealthy,"
he said.

And the growing number of elderly will put pressure on families, health
services (including mental health); social welfare policy, lifestyle and
transport.

A National-Committee-for-Population-Family-and-Children survey last year
found that more than 70 percent of Vietnam 's population remains rural
dwellers.

Most of the rural elderly have had to rely on agriculture for their
livelihood. Unable to save for their old age, they are dependent on their
children.

"This reinforces the need to develop social welfare policy for old
people," said Population and Social Affairs Institute Director Nguyen Dinh
Cu.

Such a policy will have to emphasise the development of care suitable for
the elderly in an industrial society, he explains.

An example is retirement homes. These are now few in number but will have to
be increased for those who can afford them.

The director also suggests that organisations and industries should be
encouraged to open retirement homes.

But it will be necessary to have the young comfortable to have their parents
been cared for in retirement homes, he said.

The elderly, in turn, should accept the model and realise that their
children have not neglected their duty to them.

The proportion of Vietnam 's population older than 60 totalled 9.45
percent last year.

The figure is forecast to rise to about 18 percent within the next twelve
years with the proportion of young people in the workforce falling very
quickly, said the deputy director.

A country's population is ageing when the number of elderly is above 10
percent, according to the United Nations.

Life expectancy for Vietnamese was about 71 in 2005, up from 68 in
2000.-Enditem