Positive measures taken to improve elderly care

China is taking positive measures to improve care for the elderly by improving nursing services, developing more senior-friendly products and beefing up their sense of happiness and security.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council recently released a guideline on regulating nursing home management and promoting the public's health knowledge, as well as medicine and healthcare product development for seniors.

According to the guideline, communities are encouraged to offer new and diversified nursing services to elderly people living in their own homes. Dining and domestic services should also be made available, and the provision of healthcare services by professional nursing organizations is also encouraged.

Nursing services for seniors in the countryside should be given equal attention. Healthcare facilities and nursing homes will be enhanced, the guideline said, and villages will be encouraged to set up mutual-aid nursing homes with neighboring villages.

The need to improve seniors' health knowledge was stressed in the guideline, and the construction of geriatric centers at comprehensive hospitals was also encouraged. The guideline said that it was key to establish a mechanism connecting medical treatment, rehabilitation and nursing services for seniors and build up medical facilities that are friendly and easy to use.

The government will also tighten up the development of food and medicine, and encourage the production of products targeting seniors to improve their quality of life.

Companies and research centers are encouraged to develop smart and assistance products, and those that are beneficial to rehabilitation. They are also encouraged to open brick-and-mortar stores to allow elderly residents to experience products and services.

According to the guideline, supervision of intellectual property infringements and forgeries will be strengthened to create a safe, convenient and credible market for the elderly.

China's population has been aging more rapidly since late last century. The seventh national population census showed that the nation had more than 264 million people aged 60 or older last year, accounting for 18.7 percent of the population.

Wang Haidong, director of the National Health Commission's aging health department, said in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency that population aging is an important trend for social development, which is also a basic situation for the nation over the long term.

He said that the elderly population has continued to grow, which will have a profound impact on the nation's economic and cultural development, and even its international competitiveness.

Wang added that taking positive and effective measures to improve the care of seniors matters a great deal for the construction of a modern socialist nation.