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Setting the target of universal HI Coverage for older persons

According to the Scheme, strengthening international cooperation on the older persons aims to make effective use of international resources, knowledge, experience, technologies, and models to build domestic capacity, improve policies, and gradually enhance the quality of services for the protection and care of older persons and the promotion of their role.

Among these priorities, ensuring access to healthcare services and expanding HI  coverage for older persons are identified as areas of fundamental importance. The Scheme aims to promote at least five international cooperation programs, projects, or models concerning older persons, focusing on areas such as healthcare, long-term care, community-based care, social security, digital transformation, data, and assistive technologies.

Notably, these cooperation activities are expected to achieving 100% HI coverage for older persons, while gradually expanding access to healthcare, long-term care, and social security in old age in ways suited to Viet Nam’s circumstances.

This is particularly significant asViet Nam  enters a period of population ageing. As life expectancy rises, older persons have growing needs for medical examination and treatment, chronic diseases management and treatment, rehabilitation andlong-term care. Therefore, ensuring that older personshave HI cards not only helps reduce the burden of medical costs but also lays a foundation for more regular access to healthcare services for older persons.

The Scheme identifies international cooperation on healthy ageing, long-term care, social security in old age, and the workforce providing care to older persons as key priorities. Viet Nam will draw on experience, technical assistance, models, and resources from international organizations and partners to strengthen capacity in healthcare and long-term care, ensure social security in old age, and support families and caregivers.

Within this overall framework, HI policy plays an important role in ensuring social security and healthcare for older persons. Expanding HI coverage enables the elderly to access medical examination and treatment services when needed, particularly as their needs change with age and the risk of conditions requiring long-term treatment increases.

Alongside expanding coverage, improving the quality of HI-covered medical examination and treatment is particularly important to this population group. The Scheme aims for 100% of central-level hospitals and at least 70% of provincial general hospitals with geriatric departments or specialties to have access to international cooperation programmes on training and capacity building, the transfers of techniques and technologies, or models of carefor older persons.

This will provide an important foundation for progressively strengthening the healthcare system’s capacity to care for older persons, while enabling HI cardholders, including older persons, to access quality healthcare services that meet their healthcare needs as the population ages.

Expanding Access to Healthcare and Long-Term Care

According to the Scheme, international cooperation will be pursued through an intersectoral, focused, and targeted approach, aligned with the need to. adapt to population ageing and strengthening domestic system capacity.

Areas of cooperation will focus on institutions, rights, and international standards concerning older persons; healthy ageing, long-term care, and old-age social security; employment, skills, and lifelong learning; data and digital transformation; the development of the silver economy; and ecosystems of products and services for older persons.

In the healthcare sector, Viet Nam will strengthen cooperation with international organisations and partners to draw on international experience, technologies, and appropriate care models, thereby enhancing the capacity of the healthcare system and gradually expanding community-based care and long-term care services.

At the same time, data development and digital transformation are expected to support policy formulation, enhance governance capacity, and make services more convenient and safer for older persons to access. This direction is also aligned with the digital transformation process of the social security sector, helping participants more easily access, use and benefit from HI policies.

The target of achieving 100% HI coverage among older persons clearly reflects a people-centered approach to social security policy and underscoresthe role of HI in adapting to population ageing.

The goal is not simply for older persons to  have HI cards, but to ensure that they can genuinely access and benefit from appropriate, high-quality, convenient, and safe healthcare services. Therefore, expanding HI coverage should go hand in hand with improving the quality of medical examination and treatment, developing networks of care for older persons, and strengthening the capacity of the healthcare workforce.

Effective implementation of the Scheme’s objectives will help strengthen the social security system and reduce the burden of healthcare costs on individuals, families, and society while creating the foundation for older persons to live healthier and safer lives and continue to play an active roles intheir families and communities.

With the target of achieving 100% HI coverage among older persons, HI policy continues to reaffirm its role as one of the key pillars for ensuring social security and providing health protection and care for the population as Viet Nam adapts to population ageing./.