Authorities to ramp up healthcare measures for the elderly

An undated photo shows an elderly woman dining at a nursing home in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo by Sun Yidou/For China Daily]

Shanghai plans to add 7,000 more beds at nursing homes for the elderly this year, while upgrading 1,000 beds for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, according to the plans released by the city's civil affairs bureau on Monday.

The bureau has also proposed rebuilding 80 care centers located in the suburbs or countryside, as well as setting up 80 new day care centers for senior citizens, 40 community-based comprehensive service centers and 200 community-based dining venues for the elderly.

In 2018, the city added 7,103 nursing beds across Shanghai and upgraded 1,194 beds for elderly people who have Alzheimer’s disease.

By 2022, the community-based comprehensive service centers will be no less than 400 in the city, according to the bureau.

Shanghai is the fastest aging city in China. By the end of 2017, registered citizens aged over 60 reached 4.8 million, accounting for 33.2 percent of the total registered population. There were also 805,800 people aged 80 or above, or 5.5 percent of the total registered population.