Many challenges with population aging

In Nghe An, caring for the elderly is one of the annual activities implemented by the Population Department for many years, despite many difficult conditions.

The pressure of old age

Although they were only born in 1953, Mr. Phan Xuan Cuong and his wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh (Hamlet 7, Lien Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District) look much older than their age. Mrs. Minh, due to prolonged spinal pain and having to do manual labor for many years, has now become hunched over, making it very difficult for her to walk. Although they are getting older and weaker, they still work diligently every day, taking care of their small garden, growing corn, beans, and raising pigs and chickens...

In Lien Thanh commune, cases like Mr. Cuong and Mrs. Minh are not rare. Although they have 3 grown children with their own families, life is still difficult and they have to work far away. Because they do not want to depend on their children and grandchildren, and do not have a salary, they have to work hard to earn money to take care of themselves and also help their children and grandchildren.

Talking about the family's current situation, Mrs. Minh confided: "My husband and I have been farmers for many years, saving up just enough to build a decent house for our children to have a place to return to. As for the rest, we are old now but have no savings. Now we spend every penny we earn, which is very difficult."

Lien Thanh commune currently has 1,385 association members.elderly. Of these, about 60 are elderly people who are lonely, in difficulty, or sick. Of the remaining, only 20% of the elderly have a salary. Many elderly people, despite their advanced age, still have to worry about daily living expenses because they do not want to depend on their children and grandchildren.

Mr. Pham Cong Thuy - Chairman of the Elderly Association of Lien Thanh Commune said: "Most of the elderly in our commune have to depend on their children and grandchildren. If their children and grandchildren have jobs and have an economy, life will be less difficult. Many others still have to earn a living every day. In recent years, the commune has also established an intergenerational club, a model of paternal and maternal grandmothers with the aim of gathering members to care for and help, especially in economic development.

However, the number of members participating in the clubs is not much, and the budget is also limited, so the number of people who can borrow capital for economic development is still very modest, with each loan only ranging from 10 to 20 million VND. Meanwhile, according to regulations, the elderly over 60 years old are not allowed to borrow capital for economic development from project programs or the Social Policy Bank, so it is very difficult for them to expand production and take control of their lives.

In Tan Ky district, through discussion, Mr. Ho Minh Ha - Head of Population Communication - Family Planning Department, District Health Center said: "Currently, the aging population rate in Tan Ky is 12.6%, exceeding the aging population (10%). This is a big challenge for the care of the elderly, especially the pressure on society (the health care system for the elderly), on the family (the most difficult is the economy). Almost all elderly people today depend on their children and do not have the conditions to receive adequate care.

Therefore, only about 40% of the elderly are healthy and can still work, the rest are not in good health. One thing we are also very concerned about is that currently, the proportion of elderly people in the district with pensions is very low, only 1%".

Difficulties, challenges

The 21st century is called the century of population aging. Accordingly, it is calculated that from 2000 to 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years old will double from 11% to 22%. In recent years, Vietnam has not been out of the trend of population aging.

Specifically, since 2011, the proportion of the population over 60 years old has accounted for 9.9% and Vietnam has officially entered the population aging stage. More than 10 years later, according to the General Statistics Office in 2022, Vietnam has about 11.86 million elderly people (aged 60 and over), accounting for 12% of the population. With this growth rate, it is forecasted that Vietnam will become a country with a very old population by 2038 with the proportion of elderly people aged 60 and over reaching 20.1% and by 2049 accounting for about 25% of the population, meaning that for every 4 people there will be 1 elderly person.

Regarding the issue of population aging in Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong - Director of the Department of Population Structure and Quality, General Department of Population - Family Planning said: Along with rapid aging, population aging in Vietnam has its own characteristics. That is the trend of feminization in the elderly with an increase in the rate of widowhood and the situation of elderly people living alone.

It is worrying that the material life of the elderly in Vietnam is still difficult, as 68% of the elderly live in rural areas, are farmers and work in agriculture. The health of the elderly in Vietnam is still limited with a double burden of disease, on average 1 elderly Vietnamese person has 3 diseases. Meanwhile, the health care system has not met the increasing needs of the elderly.

Faced with the increasing aging population, in recent years, the health care for the elderly has received special attention from Nghe An province. Particularly for the Population sector, implementing Plan No. 427/KH-UBND dated July 30, 2021 on "Implementing the health care program for the elderly in Nghe An province until 2030", many programs have been deployed. Accordingly, every year, the Department of Population - Family Planning has organized the contest "Elderly people live happily - live healthily" and has received the attention of the Party Committee and authorities, attracting a large number of elderly people to participate and respond.

The sector has also organized dozens of communication and health care consultation sessions for the elderly in the area, communication on population aging and promoting the role of the elderly. In particular, focusing on the following contents: Providing information and consultation on nutrition and reasonable exercise for the elderly; instructions on maintaining health hygiene for the elderly; common diseases in the elderly and how to prevent them... In the programs, the elderly are also directly consulted, answered questions related to health, old age... and given free medicine.

However, in the contextpopulation agingincreasingly fast, the potential for implementation is still limited, this is still a difficult and challenging task.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Department of Population and Family Planning added: “In Nghe An, the biggest difficulty at present is that health care in the community is still limited and not regular. Medical examination and treatment for the elderly has not been focused on. Meanwhile, the social security system has not developed synchronously. Providing knowledge and skills in health care, material and spiritual care for the elderly has not received due attention in both propaganda and training in knowledge and skills and in direct care activities. Therefore, the rights of the elderly have not been guaranteed as prescribed. In addition, the funding for activities is still very limited, mainly for propaganda and mobilization to focus on activities to support specialized medical equipment for the elderly”.

These challenges also require synchronous participation from the province to the grassroots. In order to thereby enhance the responsibility of the government and relevant departments and sectors in implementing policies and laws for the elderly and to provide comprehensive care for the elderly in terms of health, society, life, culture, etc.