Hanoi (VNA) –Society should have a more positive look at ageing population, and work to turnits challenges into opportunities as well as enhance the understanding of momentumof an aging society, heard a forum in Hanoi on September 30.

“The Journey to AgeEquality” forum was held by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) incollaboration with the Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE), the Ministryof Health’s General Office for Population Family Planning, and HelpAgeInternational. It was part of activities in response to International Day ofOlder Persons (October 1).

Addressing at the event, VAE Vice President Dam Huu Dac said Vietnam is among thefastest ageing countries in Asia. As it takes 17-20 years to transition from anaging to an aged society, the country has faced thorny problems in outliningrational policies for the elderly, many of whom are having difficult lives andneed support from the State, families and community.

Meanwhile, UNFPA Representativein Vietnam Naomi Kitahara said ageing population cannot be ignored to achievethe integrated 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and all countriesworldwide, including Vietnam, must be well-prepared for an ageing world.

Vietnam should have a new model that aligns ageing population with socio-economicgrowth, while ensuring social integration for the elderly, she stressed.

Participants at the forum,who are in three groups of over sixty, forty and twenty years-old, sharedinspiring stories to change social norms and negative prejudice about the elderly.They all agreed that older persons can make positive contributions to society.

A photo exhibition featuring relations between population and sustainabledevelopment was organised in the framework of the forum.

Population ageing is poisedto become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. One in nine people in the world is aged 60 or over, and by 2050, onein five people could be aged 60 or over. During 2015-2030, the number of oldpersons is forecast to surge 56 percent, from 901 million to 1.4 billion. By2030, persons aged 60 or above will outnumber people aged 15-24.

Vietnam officially enteredthe phase of ageing population in 2011, and is among the most rapidly ageingcountries in the world. In 2017, the number of old persons accounted for 11.9percent of the total population, which means one among nine persons was over60.

According to the GeneralStatistics Office, the number of people over 60 years old is expected to reachover 21 million, or 20 percent of the total population by 2038, and 27 million,or 25 percent of the total by 2050./.