The Guizhou Aged Care System Development Program-for-Results (PforR) was launched in Beijing on June 5 to improve the public aged care system and pilot an aging population case management model in China.
The PforR program is co-financed by the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for $350 million and €100 million respectively, which is also the World Bank's largest investment in one province in China to date.
To help Guizhou develop its aged care system, the program will support projects including domestic aged care delivery, care service for older adults suffering from disabilities and dementia, as well as skilled caregiver training. In the future, more than 400,000 of the aging population will accept the basic package of aged care services from the government, both in urban and rural areas.
In addition, Guizhou will establish a cloud platform for smart aged care service, train 37,000 skilled caregivers, improve 640 aged care nursing institutions of quality standards, and standardize facilities in 1,650 aged care communities.
For its pilot zones, the program will be first launched in Guiyang, Zunyi, Liupanshui, Qiannan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, as well as Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, according to an official of the Department of Civil Affairs in Guizhou. "After that, the program will be scaled up to the whole province," he said.
Guizhou's population is aging rapidly. By the end of 2018, more than six million people were aged 60 years and older, accounting for 17 percent of its population，while that rate was 11.38 percent in 2003.
Faced with its growing aging population, the needs of aged care services is growing in areas such as healthcare, financing, entertainment, and real estate. The consumption potential of Guizhou's aging population is expected to reach 3 trillion yuan ($432.7 billion) from 100 billion yuan in 2014 ($14.45 billion).
Li Hanyi contributed to this story
