CY could tackle elderly's housing problems in policy address
Hopes high chief executive will force developers to add flats with healthcare facilities to projects
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is expected to give a clearer picture of how the government intends to tackle the problems caused by the city's ageing population in his policy address.
His speech is expected to include a roadmap for policies that will offer a better living environment for elderly people. A source familiar with the situation said the government was considering releasing land for the building of nursing homes and may also require such facilities to be offered in private residential developments. But advocates for the elderly people want more.
"We hope his ageing policies will cover housing, retirement protection and healthcare services. It should also feature measures to allow elderly to stay in the workforce," said Professor Alfred Chan Cheung-ming, chairman of the Elderly Commission, who gave recommendations to Leung.
By 2041, one in three people in the city will be over 65, according to government projections, compared with 13 per cent last year.
Terry Lum, director of the Sau Po Centre on Ageing at the University of Hong Kong, said nursing homes were not a long-term solution.
"It goes against the principle of 'ageing in the community' that the government has advocated for years," he said, referring to the idea of elderly people living out their last years in their own homes.
About 6.8 per cent of all Hongkongers aged 60 or above live in nursing homes, compared to 2 per cent in Taiwan, 3 per cent in Japan, 2.3 per cent in Singapore, 3.9 per cent in United States, and 4.2 per cent in Britain.