Lawmaker Leong Sun Iok has submitted a written interpellation urging the government to consider drawing up new plans for cross-border elderly care to meet the growing care needs of local seniors.
Leong, a vice-president of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, commonly known as Gung Luen, made the suggestion in the interpellation submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) last month. The interpellation was released to the media yesterday.
Leong pointed out that Macau’s elderly population aged 65 or above accounted for 16.7 percent of the total population last year, i.e., 95,390 senior citizens, and even though the number of residential care places for the elderly was slated to be increased to 2,700 this year, the current number of places still falls short of the supply target.
In its reply to her interpellation, the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said it estimated that Macau will become a “super-aged” society by 2029, therefore, the government would continue to optimise the services in the city’s senior care homes, increase facilities for the elderly and strengthen support for elderly families.
The bureau also said that it is conducting a ten-year action plan on services for the elderly, which will focus on several pillars such as big health, smart technology, the so-called “silver economy”*, and an age-friendly environment.
According to the bureau, as of the end of last year, about 6,000 Macau residents received the bureau’s subsidy for senior citizens and registered as living in the mainland, of which about 4,000 lived in the nine Guangdong cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The bureau also pointed out that local senior citizens who return to live in the mainland mainly rely on their relatives and friends, their own homes and the community, while very few of them choose to live in residential care homes.
The bureau took Zhuhai as an example, where currently fewer than 80 Macau residents live in nursing homes, adding that in the future, Macau government will continue to liaise with the relevant departments in the nine Guangdong cities in the GBA to explore the development of elderly care services in general.
Moreover, the bureau said in its reply that the government will also support Macau-based investors to run elderly services in Guangdong’s nine GBA cities in the form of sole proprietorship, joint venture or partnership, so as to provide a wider range of choices of elderly services to Macau seniors in need.
* The silver economy comprises all the economic activities, products and services designed to meet the needs of people over 50. – Source: Iberdrola
This undated file photo downloaded from the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) website yesterday shows the headquarters of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS). The building is informally known as the “Blue House”.
