Article 1.- Elderly people prescribed by this Ordinance are citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam aged 60 or older.

Article 2.- Elderly people are rendered support and care, and have their role promoted by families, the State and the society according to the provisions of law.

All citizens must respect and have the obligation to help the elderly people.

Article 3.- The support of elderly people is the prime responsibility of their families.

Elderly people who are lonely, have no one to support and have no income sources shall be assisted by the State and the society.

Article 4.- The State shall adopt appropriate policies of caring for the health, improving the material and spiritual life of the elderly people, creating conditions for them to lead a healthy, cheerful as well as useful life; and at the same time, promoting their role in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

Article 5.- The People�s Committees of all levels shall work out plans on caring for the elderly people; organize and mobilize the society�s contributions in order to create conditions to care for and promote the role of the elderly people.

Article 6.- The State, society and families have the responsibility to educate young generations to show their gratitude to, respect and look after the elderly people.

Article 7.- Elderly people must set good examples in fostering their own ethical qualities and in observing law, educate young generations in preserving and developing the nation�s fine traditions.

Article 8.- The organization of elder-care establishments must be based on the practical situation, the demand of caring for the elderly people and according to the provisions of law.

Chapter II

SUPPORTING AND CARING FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chapter III

PROMOTING THE ELDERLY PEOPLE� ROLE IN THE CAUSE OF NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND DEFENSE

Article 23.- The State encourages and creates conditions for the elderly people to have physical training, study to raise their educational levels, and contribute their experiences and knowledge to the cause of building and defending the fatherland.

Article 24.- Elderly people shall be encouraged to bring into play their talents, wisdom and good qualities for participation the following activities:

1. Educating young generations about the tradition of patriotism, the love for socialism, the tradition of "remembering the source when drinking water"; handing down the cultural, social, scientific and techno-logical knowledge as well as professional skills to them;

2. Maintaining political security, social safety and order and reconciling disputes and contradictions in the population communities;

3. Contributing comments on draft policies and bills;

4. Providing professional and technical advice;

5. Conducting scientific and technological research and application;

6. Other social activities.

Chapter IV

STATE MANAGEMENT OVER THE ELDER-RELATED WORK

Article 25.- The State management over the elder-related work includes the following contents:

1. Promulgating, amending, supplementing, giving guidance on and organizing the implementation of legal documents, regimes and policies towards the elderly people;

2. Making statistics on the elderly people;

3. Mobilizing, managing and using various resources to boost investment in developing social welfare in service of the care and promotion of the role of the elderly people;

4. Supporting activities of the elderly people�s association;

5. Supervising, inspecting, settling complaints and denunciations about the implementation of the legislation on the elderly people;

6. Handling violations in the enforcement of the legislation on the elderly people;

7. Establishing international cooperation relations in the care for the elderly people and the promotion of their role.

Article 26.- The Government shall exercise the uniform State management over the elder-related work.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be responsible to the Government for performing the State management over the elder-related work.

The ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, have to coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in performing the State management over the elder-related work.

The People�s Committees of all levels shall have to care and bring into play the role of the elderly people in their respective localities.

Article 27.- The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Front�s member organizations at all levels shall mobilize families and the society to care for and promote the role of, the elderly people.

Article 28.- Vietnam Association of the Elder is a social organization of the elderly people, which has the responsibilities:

1. To rally elderly people for participation in the Association�s activities, contribute to the implementation of the socio-economic programs, the building of a civilized lifestyle and cultural families, the maintenance of political security, social safety and order, the building and defense of the Fatherland;

2. To protect the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly people, make proposals to the Sate management bodies on the care for and the promotion of the role of the elderly people;

3. To make recommendations to the State bodies on matters relating to the elderly people�s legitimate rights and interests;

4. To represent the Vietnamese elderly people in international organizations as well as external relation activities for their interests.

Article 29.- The State creates conditions for Vietnam Association of the Elder to organize various activities to better and better care for and promote the role of the elderly people.

Chapter V

REWARD AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

Article 30.- Organizations and individuals that have recorded outstanding achievements in the care for, assistance and promotion of the role of, the elderly people or merits in detecting and preventing acts of violating the legislation on the elderly people; elders who set bright examples in social activities, have made good contributions to the cause of national construction and defense, shall be commended and rewarded according to the provisions of law.

Article 31.- Those who infringe upon the elderly people�s legitimate rights and interests; those who have the obligation to support elderly people but shirk their obligation or maltreat elderly people or commit other acts of violating the law provisions on the elderly people, shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability; if causing any damage, they shall have to pay compensation therefor according to the provisions of law.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 32.- This Ordinance also applies to foreign elderly people living in Vietnam, except otherwise provided for by international agreements which Vietnam has signed or acceded to.

Article 34.- The Government shall detail and guide the implementation of this Ordinance.

On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee
Chairman
NONG DUC MANH