Growth and Availability

Image shows one of the hospitals in Vietnam. Not all hospitals are as grand as the ones in the United States.

The Director of the Population Information and Data Centre, Nguyen Quoc Anh commented in 2009, "Growth of the elderly population in Viet Nam has been much faster than that in many other countries around the world." This means that Vietnam has many issues and challenges to deal with, including the need to improve the health welfare system, provide healthy environments for better living, and fund elder care centers. Since many elders are concentrated in rural areas, local assistance and resources are also essential.

Recently, Vietnam has announced that more hospitals will soon be built. The country will also work on stabilizing drug prices, monitoring pharmacies, and ensuring proper equipment usage in hospitals. This is good news because more people, especially elders, will have access to care. The major problem is whether these elderly will make good use of the health systems available to them because they, especially those in villages or rural areas, may choose herbal remedies instead. Access also may not be available to them because of the lack of transportation. Even with new hospitals, the doctor-patient ratio is expected to increase to 13 per 10,000. It's a possibility that elders will have to wait longer and may lose the patience along the way.

Nonetheless, the rapid increase in the elder population does not give enough time for preparations, since the country is also busy making changes and adapting in other aspects.