On average, Vietnamese people over 80 years old live with illness for 14 years.

"Living with" the disease

"Some domestic and international studies show that medical expenses for the elderly are 7-10 times higher than those of young people. The elderly (after 60 years old) use up to 50% of the total amount of medicine.

On average, each elderly person in Vietnam after the age of 60 has 2-3 diseases; after the age of 80, it increases to nearly 7 diseases," Associate Professor - Dr. Nguyen Trung Anh, Director of the Central Geriatric Hospital, said at the 4th National Gerontology Conference held on November 10-11, in Hanoi.

On average, each elderly person has 2 - 7 diseases, the number of diseases increases with life expectancy.

A study by the Central Geriatric Hospital with 600 people over 80 years old in a district in Hanoi in 2016 showed that 33.6% were widowed; 8.2% lived alone; 62% had health insurance; 90% needed assistance in using tools such as telephone, shopping, cooking, cleaning the house, and using means of transportation.

In Vietnam, about 70% of the elderly have no income; 30% do not have health insurance. For people over 80 years old, they have lived with illness for an average of 14 years.

Transition to an aging population by 2038

According to the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Planning and Investment), Vietnam officially entered the population aging stage since 2011 and is one of the 10 countries with the fastest population aging rate in the world.

In 2019, the number of elderly people aged 60 and over in our country was 11.41 million (11.86% of the population); in 2021, there were 12.5 million elderly people (12.8% of the population) and it is increasing rapidly. It is estimated that by 2038, Vietnam will enter the aging population stage with the elderly accounting for over 20% of the total population.

Mr. Trung Anh said that Vietnam's population is aging rapidly but is not uniform in terms of living conditions and health care, with 5 groups: healthy elderly people; relatively healthy people (with 1 acute disease); groups with complex diseases and geriatric syndromes; bedridden people who depend on caregivers, disabled people; and bedridden people before death.

Old age is characterized by the emergence of complex health conditions that tend to appear in later years of life. These include geriatric syndromes such as injuries, dementia, urinary incontinence, gait disorders and falls, and functional decline. In addition, multimorbidity, reduced resistance to disease, and poor recovery require special treatment and care for the elderly.

In the country, it is necessary to improve the capacity of the health care system for the elderly, such as: establishing geriatric departments in hospitals with a scale of about 10% of planned beds, receiving patients with many complex diseases, with typical geriatric syndromes (usually over 80 years old); organizing geriatric clinics in the examination department; establishing records to monitor and manage health, detect and prevent risk factors causing disability in the elderly.

The Director of the Central Geriatric Hospital also stated that the country is facing a low birth rate, which affects the family structure, with the "4 - 2 - 1" model, meaning 4 people are grandparents and 2 people are parents looking forward to the care of one person is a child or grandchild in the family. This model has taken place in many developed countries and Vietnam may not be able to avoid it.

"The elderly will receive better care and will be less expensive if they are cared for within their family. However, with families having few children and lacking caregivers due to the increasing model of small families, the elderly will be lonely. This requires us to have a health care system and a team to support the elderly that is suitable for the aging population," said Mr. Trung Anh.

The 4th National Geriatric Conference was organized by the Vietnam Geriatrics Association with 23 seminars, nearly 500 domestic delegates attending directly, with the participation of leading experts in geriatrics from the US, Australia, UK, and France. The delegates discussed promoting scientific research as well as developing young human resources for geriatrics in Vietnam.

On this occasion, opinions were also shared about the model of health care for the elderly in the community, including the proposal to consider the model of apartments for the elderly. Here, there are doctors, nurses, technicians to monitor, assist and provide appropriate health care for residents; in particular, there is an open space for the elderly to have physical activities and socialize according to their needs.

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