[China Now] Aging society, a new challenge

Aging society is a new challenge facing China. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the number of Chinese population aged over 65 is 123 million or 9.1 percent of Chinese total population of 1.4 billion as of the end of 2011. The statistics was announced by the Health Aging Symposium last Saturday (April 7, 2012), Xinhua said. However, it said, things will become even more severe in the future. The number of those above 65 will grow to 332 million, 23 percent of its total population in 2050. 

A lonely elderly woman looks outside through a caged window. (Photo: review.cnfol.com)

The situations in other countries are also serious. Xinhua, citing the statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), further said that the number of people in the world aged over 60 has doubled since 1980 and the number of people aged 80 or above will reach 395 million, four times higher than the current figure, by 2050. 

Elderly around the world (photo: www.baidu.com)

To make the matters worse, Chinese aging society is going with poverty and other social problems, Xinhua said. “According to a survey by the China Research Center on Aging in 2011, two third of seniors aged above 60 are living with illness. 33 million of them are either partially disabled or totally disabled. Worrisome fact is that China has become an aging society without being modernized or developed enough needed to deal with aging problem,” it said. 

A nersing homes is seen crowded with so many Chinese elderly people. (photo: www.baidu.com)

Although Yin Li, Vice-Health Minister promised his ministry will provide basic health services to the elderly in order to ensure them with sufficient health care services, yet future is still not so optimistic, according to Xinhua.