Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has asked the Viet Nam Elderly Association (VEA) to expand care for elderly people by providing better health check-ups for the sick and more programmes that provide general support to the elderly.

Making the comments yesterday at a two-day conference in Ha Noi to review the past five years of health care services offered to the aged, PM Khai also asked local authorities at all levels to look after elderly people, especially those in rural and remote areas.

The PM said he welcomed the association’s work for the past five years (2001-05), which had included conducting a series of nation-wide programmes to take care of elderly people.

The Viet Nam Elderly Association reported at the conference it had recently set targets to enhance the physical and mental well-being of elderly people nationwide.

The association said it would help develop a welfare network for senior citizens, focused on the handicapped, the poor, those belonging to ethnic minority groups and old people living alone.

The group will also continue to take care of elderly people by improving their living conditions, lifting their spirits and providing housing.

The chairman of the association, Vu Oanh, said grassroots-level associations, social organisations and individuals had established several models of caring for the elderly.

Oanh said the Viet Nam Elderly Association plans to establish clubs for elderly people to enjoy physical exercise as well as cultural and entertainment activities in local precincts and wards, and would advocate more house calls by doctors for the infirm.

On behalf of the association, chairman Oanh conferred an insignia to PM Khai for the cause of looking after elderly people.