Vietnam’s ageing population prompts calls for care reforms
Day care could help older people in Vietnam stay with their families while receiving professional support and create opportunities for the silver economy.
- Vietnam's population is aging rapidly, with those over 65 projected to reach 21% by 2050, yet social insurance coverage for the elderly is currently below the national target.
- Experts are calling for a shift from a reactive to a proactive care model that uses technology like AI and big data to anticipate needs and manage risks for the elderly.
- Proposed reforms include expanding community-based care and introducing day care services, allowing seniors to receive professional support while living with their families.
- Other recommendations include developing a professional elderly-care workforce and encouraging public-private partnerships to build a more comprehensive care system.
Coverage of older people in Vietnam through pensions, social insurance allowances or social retirement allowances stood at about 42 per cent in 2025, below a 55 per cent target, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong reported.
Vietnam’s rapid population ageing presents a development challenge, with sector representatives calling for policies and care systems that anticipate the change.
Older people should retain opportunities to contribute to their families, communities and society, while services tailored to them and their families could create jobs, services and markets for the silver economy.
People aged 65 and over are projected to make up more than 21 per cent of Vietnam’s population by 2050, up from a forecast 14 per cent in 2034.
The country’s ageing process dates back to 2011; the 2034 projection would mark the transition to an ageing society.
Ngo Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Department of Elderly Care at the Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE), advocated a change in the basis of care.
He wants a move from dealing with problems after they emerge to anticipating and preventing them, with risk management and protection of older people’s legitimate rights and interests built into the approach.
Tuan recommended digital transformation, artificial intelligence and big data for assessing care requirements, forecasting population ageing and identifying risks to older people.
Data systems designed to flag risks early were another element of his proposals.
Community-based care should also be expanded, Tuan argued.
He proposed a larger role for the VAE in communicating with the public, exercising social oversight and contributing to policy-making.
Existing support reaches more than 2.5 million older people through social retirement allowances, according to Huong.
Annual health check-ups reach more than 69 per cent of older people, and around 80 per cent have health-monitoring records, although Vietnam still lacks enough elderly-care facilities and care workers.
Huong described continuing improvements to policy and the legal framework intended to extend coverage and improve access to basic social services.
The Political Bureau has called for elderly-care and rehabilitation facilities to be developed under Resolution 72, which also advocates closer coordination between healthcare and elderly-care services.
The International Day of Older Persons 2026 takes “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives” as its theme.
The emphasis is on developing healthcare, social security, labour-market and social-service systems that respond to increasing life expectancy.
Day care offers one possible way to fill the gap between support from relatives and long-term residential care.
Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, chairwoman of Nhan Ai International Corporation, a joint-stock company, proposed making it part of Vietnam’s elderly-care system, giving older people daytime assistance while allowing them to continue living with their families.
Mobility, independence and social connections are among the benefits that day care could help older people maintain.
Services could encompass physical exercise and rehabilitation, social activities, nutritional support, health monitoring and help with managing medication.
Thanh proposed integrating day care with home care, healthcare, rehabilitation and long-term care through community-based networks.
For families, day care could offer a link to professional support, contributing to a more comprehensive care system and creating further opportunities for Vietnam’s silver economy.
Quality standards and inclusion in development plans for elderly care and the silver economy form part of Thanh’s proposals for expanding day care.
She also recommended encouraging social participation and public-private partnerships.
Developing a professional elderly-care workforce also features in Thanh’s proposals.
Her recommendations include using technology and data more extensively to connect older people, families, carers, service providers, healthcare facilities and communities.
Source: Vietnam News
