China population: new five-year plan vows to tackle ‘insufficient’ elderly care as ageing crisis worsens
- The 14th five-year plan on elderly care has highlighted a dire need to improve services for China’s fast ageing population
- Authorities have promised to build more facilities to care for people at the end of their lives and those suffering from chronic illness
China is set to improve access to medical care and increase services for the elderly in the next five years as part of a push to support the nation’s fast ageing population.
The National Health and Medical Commission (NHMC) issued the 14th five-year plan on elderly care on Tuesday, which highlighted a dire need to improve health services for elderly in both rural and urban areas.
The population aged 60 and above was 267.36 million last year, accounting for 18.9 per cent of the total, according to official data.
“We must also see that [the] country’s elderly population is large and ageing rapidly, and there are still areas of unbalanced and insufficient elderly care and elderly care services, and the coordinated development of the cause and industry still needs to be improved,” the NHMC said in a statement last week regarding the new plan.
