The Government is encouraging investment in nursing homes for elderly people but most such centres in HCM City are too expensive for the poor.

An elderly woman is cared for at Thi Nghe Nursing Home in HCM City. Care in most such facilities is too expensive for the poor to afford.

They can accommodate a maximum of 1,000 people while the city is estimated to have 383,995 people aged over 60.

For many years now, the Government has encouraged private investment in nursing centers by offering a clutch of incentives.

Some have indeed been built but they mostly cater to wealthy people.

Ba Thuong Nursing Home in Cu Chi District, for instance, is almost like a resort and has a good healthcare regime. But inmates have to pay VND4.5 million (US$240) – VND8 million ($430) a month to live there.

The average monthly income in the city is around VND2.66 million.

“Elderly people from well-to-do families have many choices,” Tran Minh Tam, deputy director of Thanh Loc Nursing Centre in District 12, said.

“If not Ba Thuong, they can choose to live at Vuon Xoai Nursing Home in Dong Nai Province or Medicoast, an international health care centre in Vung Tau.

“But finding accommodation for people from poor families is a nation-wide problem.”

Demographers have said Viet Nam will become a nation with an old population in the next 20 years.

By 2030 the number of elderly people is estimated to reach 16.5 million or 17 per cent of the population.

There are around 800,000 elderly people in the country who need accommodation, cooking, and nursing care but each province has just one to three nursing centres.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News