By Chiu Chih-jou and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The number of centenarians in Taiwan exceeded 5,000 for the first time last year and remained above 5,000 this year despite a small year-on-year decrease, Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics showed.
Last year there were 5,076 centenarians in the country, and there are 5,011 this year, which is 2.3 times the number recorded from 10 years ago, statistics showed.
A total of 3,036 of the centenarians in the country are women, accounting for 65 percent of the total, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Sinying District Office
A total of forty-five of those people are over 110 years old this year, with the oldest woman in the group being 119 years old, and the oldest man being 114 years old.
The statistics also showed that the average life expectancy in the country is rising, with men living to 76.63 years on average and women to 83.28 years.
Every year, the Presidential Office and the ministry hand out gold-plated medallions to those aged 100 or older, as well as commemorative certificates to those just turning 100.
The government this year budgeted NT$44.71 million for the purchase of the medallions, which was a new record, the ministry said.
“In the 1960s, the average lifespan in Taiwan was only about 45 years, but by the 1990s it grew to more than 60 years, and has now reached the 80s,” Executive Yuan Long-term Care Promotion Group convencer Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said.
“As we age, long-term healthcare becomes more important, and it is also important to keep a positive attitude and not be afraid of aging,” he said.
Ministry of Health and Welfare Deputy Minister Lee Li-fen (李麗芬), on Oct. 21 said that the government passed the “White Paper on an Aging Society” in 2021, hoping to build an “autonomous, self-reliant, integrated, and sustainable” elderly society.
“Under plans formulated last year, the government is to invest an estimated NT$120 billion over four years in building a self-reliant and resilient aged society,” she said.
“There is to be cross-governmental agency cooperation on the issue, which was first raised in a white paper in 2021.”
The government has established 4,633 community care centers nationwide to help the elderly, including 2,757 that are implementing the long-term 2.0 policy and providing preventive and delayed disability care services, she said.
“We eventually plan to have more than 7,000 long-term care facilities, which would provide services to the elderly, and allow people to eat meals together and participate in health promotion activities together,” she said.
It is still common in Taiwan for elderly people to be bedridden and dependent on others for up to eight years before they pass away, Taiwan Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics director-general Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰) said.
Authorities should work to foster healthy living habits from a younger age, which would also include financial planning for old age, he said.
In the future, long-term care policies would mean better facilities, but also outreach care services, accessible transportation and promotion of an active lifestyle, he said.
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