A conference to promote cooperation in healthcare and nursing homesbetween Vietnam and Japan was held in Hanoi on February 5.

Event attendees included representatives from the Japanese Embassy inVietnam, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Okayama UniversityHospital and local bodies in the field.

DeputyMinister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen regarded the conference as a goodopportunity for Vietnam to learn from its guests’ experience in dealingwith aging population along with providing healthcare service centresfor the elderly.

Vietnam is still experiencing a“golden population structure” but its population is quickly aging andthe proportion of elderly people will rise to 10.5 percent of the totalpopulation in a few years, making it one of the 10 most rapidly agingcountries.

In Vietnam, the elderly bear “doublehealth burdens” as disease patterns shift from communicable tonon-communicable diseases and chronic illnesses, and cancer, stress andmental depression are becoming more frequent.

Such trends require higher healthcare expenditures, as the averagetreatment cost for an elderly individual is 7-8 times that for a child.As a person ages, their risk of disability increases, relegating them totime spent in bed.

Around 23.4 percent ofelderly population find it difficult to perform daily activities with90.67 percent of them needing assistance from others.

A research by the National Geriatric Hospital revealed that anelderly person suffers from an average of 3 chronic diseasessimultaneously while those currently hospitalised often have up to 6conditions at once.

Frailty, Alzheimer’s,malnutrition and mental depression are very common among older adults,especially those aged above 80.-VNA