Recently, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and 12 other national departments jointly released a healthy aging plan for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), vowing to set up a basic medical and health system covering elderly people in urban and rural areas and provide integrated services for old people.

The healthy aging plan will fulfill nine tasks to push forward healthy aging.

The plan will push forward health promotion among the elderly and strengthen public health services for older people. It will improve the medical and healthcare service system for the elderly while strengthening nursing services and the medical insurance system. The plan will boost the development of the elderly health industry and traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), providing diversified healthcare services for old people. What’s more, it will construct an environment suitable for old people and train professionals are also entrusted with these tasks.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China's elderly population at the age of 60 or above will increase by 6.4 million each year; by 2020, it will reach 255 million people, accounting for 17.8 percent of the whole population. With totally disabled and partly disabled old people increasing as well, the need for medical care and nursing services is also increasing. The transformation of family structures will make more and more families face the problem of the absence of caregivers.

According to Hao Xiaoning, the director of development and research center for public health and risk management at the NHFPC, the nine tasks based on the needs of old people's health include providing health care, disease treatment, rehabilitation care, nursing services, and terminal care to build an environment that is good for old people.

Establishment of health service system urgently needed

The plan suggests strengthening the construction of rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, and gerontology departments of general hospitals for old people. By 2020, medical institutions will set up green channels convenient for old people's registration for medical treatment. Diversified cooperation between medical institutions and nursing institutes will be encouraged to provide medical and nursing services for the elderly, especially for those who are disabled or have dementia. Areas that have rich resources in public hospitals can transform some hospitals into nursing centers for the elderly.

Hao said further implementation of the combination of medical treatment and nursing services is the key for fulfilling health population for the aging. At the present stage, China's relevant policies and the elderly health evaluation system still need to be perfected.  

Long-term nursing insurance system

According to the plan, China will fully implement serious illness hospitalization insurance for urban and rural residents. Long-term nursing insurance system will be piloted in some local areas, allowing old people's hospitalization expenses to be directly reimbursed in the region where the elderly access medical service other than the resident region. The training of the professional staff for the elderly health services such as gerontology, rehabilitative treatment, and nursing care also will be incorporated into the plan.