Illustrative image (Photo: dangcongsan.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Party and State pay attention to issues relating to the elderly and their rights, said Chairwoman of the Vietnam Associationof the Elderly (VAE) Pham Thi Hai Chuyen.
She quoted Clause 3, Article 37 of the 2013 Constitution as saying that the State, family and society shall respect and take care of old people, and promote their role in the course of nationalconstruction and defence.
Point 2, Article 59 regulates that the State creates fairopportunities for citizens to enjoy social welfare, develop social welfaresystem and support policies for the elderly, persons with disabilities, the poor and othersin disadvantaged situation.
In particular, the Law on the Elderly was adopted by the NationalAssembly on November 23, 2009 and took effect on July 1, 2010. With sixchapters and 31 articles, the Law institutionalised Vietnam’s policies on theelderly in a systemic and comprehensive manner, ensuring their involvement insocial activities and encouraging social organisations and individuals’attention to the care and upholding the role of senior citizens. It is alsopart of efforts by the Vietnamese Government to deliver on its commitment to theimplementation of the Political Declaration and the Madrid International Planof Action on Aging.
However, the biggest challenge is thefact that Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest population aging inAsia. While it takes a century or some decades for developedcountries to transition to population aging, for instance France (115 years),Sweden (85 years), Australia (73 years), the US (69 years), Canada (65 years), Japanand China (26 years), it is estimated to take only 17-20 years for Vietnam,making it hard in policy planning for old persons.
The General Statistics Office forecastthat by 2038, the number of population aged above 60 will surpass 21 million,or 20 percent of the total.
Vietnam has increasingly paid attentionto raising public awareness of inequality in access to social welfare, healthcare, lifelong learning, employment and livelihoods.
According to experts, Vietnam needs to createfavourable conditions in terms of employment opportunities, retirement age, skilldevelopment, social welfare, universal health care and friendly environment forthe elderly, and particularly ending age-based discrimination to ensure socialintegration for them, which are the most effective ways to cope with populationaging and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals./.
