At the Conference, many experts from institutes, hospitals and universities presented hot issues related to vaccination that are important for the health of the elderly.
Accordingly, since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified "healthy aging" as the focus of activities for the elderly until 2030. According to the WHO, healthy aging is the process of building and maintaining functional abilities, helping older adults enjoy a happy life.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Vietnam is currently one of the countries with the fastest aging rate in the world. The number of people aged 60 and over is expected to reach about 21 million by 2035. In Vietnam, on average, the elderly suffer from 3-4 underlying diseases, suffer from many impacts on their quality of life and are at risk of reducing their healthy living years. As the population ages and the incidence of chronic diseases increases, society becomes increasingly vulnerable to predictable infectious diseases.
Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Hong Tam - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) said: "In Vietnam, the vaccination program for children has achieved many important achievements, contributing to the effective control of infectious diseases. However, vaccination for adults, especially the elderly and people with underlying diseases, is still relatively new. Recognizing the importance of protecting this population, HCDC has developed and implemented the Immunization Plan to protect the elderly and people with underlying diseases with many practical activities such as: professional guidance, completing pre-vaccation screening, and organizing expert seminars to collect comments".
Many countries have recorded clear benefits of integrating adult vaccination into the health care system. In particular, vaccines against seasonal flu, droopy, respiratory viral vector (RSV) and other diseases are deployed through the National Health Care System (NHS).
Speaking at the event, Professor, knight Jonathan Van-Tam, Professor of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK; Deputy Director of UK Health from 2017-2022, responsible for overseeing the UK vaccination program during this period, emphasized: A particularly important factor is the recommendation from the doctor or health care staff that patients trust. Every contact with a patient is an opportunity to help people understand and be more proactive in disease prevention through vaccination at different stages of life.
He also said that adult vaccination is currently the fastest growing field in the vaccinology industry, bringing double benefits: both reducing the rate of hospitalization and re-hospital admission due to direct involvement in infectious diseases, and reducing complications in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases caused by severe infections, thereby helping to reduce treatment costs and put pressure on the health system.
