Vietnamese elderly people have many illnesses in the last 5 years of their lives

“Elderly people in Vietnam often have to live with illness for the last 5-7 years of their lives, on average each person has 4-5 different diseases,” Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen The Anh, Director of Huu Nghi Hospital shared at the International Scientific Conference on Comprehensive Care of the Elderly, March 26. At Huu Nghi Hospital, an elderly person goes to the doctor 7-8 times a year, even more if you include hospitalizations. This frequency is 2-2.5 times higher than other patient groups

Vietnam is currently one of the countries with the fastest aging population in Asia. Data show that in 2011 the elderly accounted for about 9.9% of the population; By 2012, it exceeded 10%, officially entering the aging phase. It is forecast that in about 20 years, this rate will increase to 20%. Currently, the country has about 16.1 million elderly people, accounting for more than 16% of the population.

It is forecasted that Vietnam’s aging index will exceed 100 by 2032 – when the number of elderly people is greater than the number of children. Pressure on the workforce is also increasing as the proportion of working-age people supporting an elderly person declines rapidly, from more than 7 people (in 2023) to about 2 people in 2049.

“The above numbers show that the burden of disease in the elderly is very large, requiring special attention from the health system as well as families and communities with the goal of not only living long but also living healthily,” Associate Professor The Anh said.

The Director of Huu Nghi Hospital expressed concern that there are still many elderly people, especially in remote areas, who have never been to a doctor or even had their blood pressure measured. There are people who do not understand how to use medicine, for example blood pressure medicine, only taking it when they feel tired and then stopping is completely incorrect and very dangerous.

Besides, treatment compliance in the elderly is also a challenge. Without close monitoring and guidance, patients can easily forget their medication or stop taking it midway, leading to more severe illness and increased risk of complications.

Faced with this situation, Associate Professor The Anh believes that it is necessary to change the approach, starting from the community. Elderly health management should not only take place in the hospital but should be done continuously, right at the place of residence, through periodic and proactive monitoring. To adapt to the aging population, he believes it is necessary to develop continuous and comprehensive care models. In particular, the application of technology such as personal health monitoring software can support patients in self-managing their condition.

At the conference, experts also said that Vietnam needs to develop comprehensive policies and plans to improve the quality of life for the elderly. Among them, one of the important changes is moving from a single-disease treatment model to multi-disease, multi-specialty treatment model. Mr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training of the Ministry of Health, said that the elderly today not only need treatment but also need long-term management with a combination of medicine, rehabilitation, nutrition, psychology and social support. This is an inevitable requirement when the disease model has changed towards chronicity and multipathology.

To cope with aging, the Ministry of Health has also proposed to develop a model of care for the elderly at home and in the community, opening day care points to take advantage of existing facilities such as cultural houses, village sports areas, and residential groups. This proposal is included in the draft Decree guiding the implementation of the Population Law, which is being consulted by the Ministry of Health and is expected to be submitted to the Government for promulgation before April 30.