The Healthy China Initiative Promotion Committee held a press conference recently where it pointed out that the average life expectancy of Chinese people in 2018 was 77. However, the healthy life expectancy was only 68.7, which means that people live with illness for up to 8.3 years.

By the end of 2018, the number of people aged over 60 in China had reached 249 million, with more than 40 million disabled or semi-disabled, accounting for 18.3 percent of the total.

Providing for the elderly has always been a primary objective of social civilization. Moreover, providing for seniors with high standards is a reflection of the strong compatibility and integration of human and ecological society, as well as an important criterion to measure the level of a society's civilization.

China's basic pension system is established and has achieved full coverage. Still, in order to improve its quality, it is essential to meet seniors' needs for medical treatment and recuperation at home. While it's extremely difficult for children to look after their parents on their own, the nursing care provided by society has become an indispensable way of solving this severe problem.

However, although there are now 4 million registered nurses in China, there are not enough with experience and professional titles to take care of the elderly in their spare time. It is necessary to train a large number of nurses according to the needs of society.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Beijing Youth Daily on August 5）