HCM City vows to improve senior living

The HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs says it will continue to implement many policies on providing welfare and healthcare for senior citizens in the city.

At a workshop held yesterday in HCM City, Vo Van Hoang, deputy head of the department\'s Social Sponsorship Office, said that the city has tried hard to improve the lives of the elderly, especially those who are abandoned or disabled as well those who face financial difficulties.

In 2009, the city had 430,588 senior citizens (aged 60 plus), accounting for 6.04 per cent of its total population.

In 2010, nearly 71,000 of the senior citizens in the city received pensions and 27, 546 social welfare allowances.

Since 2006, 537 of the elderly who were abandoned have been admitted to the city\'s public and private social welfare centres, Hoang said.

Since 2007, the city has provided allowances to 3,959 elderly citizens aged 60 to 85 who had been abandoned and/or disabled.

More than 1,500 new houses worth VND19.2 billion (US$923,076) have been built for families of senior citizens in the city since 2006.

The department has also co-operated with the city\'s Red Cross chapter and Traditional Medicine Association to provide health checks for the elderly who belong to special categories covered by Government policies.

They have also been provided with free health insurance.

The city\'s Association of the Senior citizens has helped maintain social order, resolve conflicts in their residential areas as well as implement the poverty alleviation programme, Hoang said.

In 2009, more than 5,530 senior residents of the city received awards for doing well in business in the city were presented the honour of well doing business.

Their economic activities contributed more than VND1.2 billion ($57,692) to the city budget and created jobs for 33,960 labourers in their localities.

The city\'s health department suggested at the workshop that the Ministry of Health asks hospitals to set up a faculty specialising in check-up and treatment of the elderly.

Currently, the city has only four hospitals with such faculties – Nguyen Trai and Nguyen Tri Phuong hospitals in District 5, Gia Dinh People\'s Hospital in Binh Thanh District and the Hospital for Rehabilitation and Occupational Diseases in District 8.