Remember ME - You Me and Dementia

May 28, 2011

CHINA: China conducts law enforcement inspections to help the elderly

.
BEIJING / People's Daily / Politics / May 28, 2011

Chinese legislators are conducting inspections to ensure the interests and rights of the elderly are protected in accordance with the law.

Yan Junqi, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), concluded her three-day inspection tour of Anhui Province on Friday.

Yan's tour is one of the seven visits of Chinese legislators to inspect the law enforcement situation in Shanghai and the six provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Shandong, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Xinjiang from May to July.

"To learn about the law enforcement situation for protecting rights and interests of aged people is at the top of the NPC agenda this year," said a NPC statement on Friday.

Yan's Anhui tour focused on how the insurance scheme is being implemented, the medical care system, aid for those with financial difficulties, as well as home-based and institution-sponsored care service for the elderly.

Her tour was also aimed at urging authorities to improve social security for the eldery.

"The aging of the Chinese population is one of the serious challenges for China," she said.

The country, with 178 million people aged over 60 -- about 13.26 percent of its population, only has about 2.66 million beds in nursing home, enough for about 1.5 percent of the senior population.

The ratio compares with an average in developed countries of 7 percent and in developing countries of 2 percent to 3 percent, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Source: Xinhua