Chương 2 Pháp lệnh người cao tuổi năm 2000: Phụng dưỡng, chăm sóc người cao tuổi

Chapter II

SUPPORTING AND CARING FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE

Article 9.-

1. Supporting elderly people means providing economic assistance for, looking after, and spiritually encouraging them and respecting their legitimate aspirations so as to ensure their basic demands for meals, clothing, housing, travel, health, study, culture, information and personal communication.

2. Those who have the obligation to support elderly people are the latter’s spouses, biological children and grand children.

3. Those who have the supporting obligation must not decline their supporting obligation.

Article 10.-

1. Those who have the supporting obligation must, depending on their concrete conditions, arrange living places suitable to the health and psychological conditions of elderly people.

2. Those who have the supporting obligation must pay medical treatment costs when their elders get sick or burial costs when they die.

3. All acts of maltreating or forcing elderly persons to overwork are strictly forbidden.

Article 11.-

1. Those who have the supporting obligation but have no conditions to directly attend to elderly people may authorize individuals or service organizations to do so but with the consent of the concerned elderly people.

2. The authorized individuals or service organizations shall have to fulfill their commitments to the authorizers to take care of elderly people.

3. Elderly people may request the for change of individuals or service organizations authorized to take care of them, if these individuals or service organizations fail to fulfill their duties.

Article 12.- Elderly people who are lonely without any support and without any income sources shall be entitled to:

1. Social allowance or being cared at social relief establishments;

2. Free medical examination and treatment;

3. When they die the commune/ward or district township (hereinafter collectively referred to as commune level) People’s Committees or the social relief establishments organize their burial and bear the costs thereof

Article 13.- The elderly people are given the priority in medical examination and treatment, and when participating in public traffic, recreation and entertainment.

Article 14.-

1. The elderly people are given primary healthcare at their places of residence. The commune-level health stations shall, depending on the concrete local conditions, have to monitor, manage and directly look after the health of, and organize periodical health check-ups for, elderly people, the fund therefor shall be provided by the local budget.

2. When elderly people who are disabled, lonely and supportless get sick but are unable to go for medical examination and treatment at designated places, the heads of the commune-level health stations shall send medical workers to give medical examination and treatment to them at their places of residence.

Article 15.- State-run hospitals must have geriatric departments or spare a number of beds for elderly patients under treatment and organize research in therapeutic knowledge and techniques applicable to elderly people.

Article 16.- The Ministry of Health shall have to guide medical examination and treatment establishments in healthcare knowledge and techniques applicable to elderly people’ health; intensify research in the field of care and protection of the elderly people’ health; foster and raise the health workers’ professional skills in medical examination and treatment for the elderly people; apply various forms of education and popularization of general knowledge about physical training so as to help the elders raise their capability of preventing and curing diseases and taking care of their own health.

Article 17.- The People’s Committees of all levels, political organizations, socio-political organizations, economic organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, units of people’s armed forces and all citizens shall, depending on their concrete conditions, support the elderly people in organizing sight-seeing tours of historical relics and scenic places in the country.

Article 18.- The investment in building or renovating public utilities shall be made on the basis of taking into account the needs of activities and care for the elderly people.

Article 19.- The State and society create favorable conditions for the elderly people to enjoy culture and take part in traditional cultural activities of the nation.

Article 20.- The mass media agencies shall have to propagate the Party’s lines and undertakings as well as the State’s policies and laws on the care for the elderly people and the promotion of their role, reflect life, educate the sense of respecting, caring for and helping the elderly people, praise good people and good deeds in taking care of elderly people.

Article 21.- The State encourages organizations and individuals, with their own funding sources, to make contributions to and investment in building sanatoriums, healthcare service establishments, medical therapy and rehabilitation centers, cultural, sport and physical training clubs for elderly people as well as other forms of voluntary assistance to elderly people in the population communities and social relief establishments.

Article 22.- The State encourages the elderly people’ association to set up the elder-care fund in appropriate forms. The elder-care fund may be formed from the source of voluntary contributions of elderly people, charitable assistance of organizations and individuals inside and outside the country. The elder-care fund shall be set up and operate according to the provisions of law.