The elderly should not be left behind in age of smartphones

The National Health Commission has drafted 10 moves to make it easier for senior citizens to receive medical treatment.

The moves include establishing green channels for seniors, increasing the ways they can make a hospital appointment, as well as optimizing other online and offline service procedures so that seniors can easily do them.

While it is convenient for young people to use smartphone apps to make appointments, do pre-checks and make payments, some seniors do not have a smartphone or are not in the habit of using one in such a way.

Yet data show that the number of those aged 60 and above in China has reached 260 million, of which 190 million are above 65. How to provide better, more convenient medical services to them is a question that governments at all levels must answer well.

That's why the 10 moves initiated by the NHC are important. They not only stipulate detailed and convenient services that the elderly should receive when they go to medical institutions for consultations or treatment, but also include encouraging medical institutions to extend their services to the elderly.

Good policies will not be effective if not well implemented. In order to ensure the 10 measures are properly implemented, the NHC requires provincial-level branches to make detailed implementation plans before July 1 and establish an evaluation system to monitor how well the measures are being implemented. That shows a good attitude of being responsible for the policies it makes.

In Beijing, for example, a series of improvements have already come into effect. Medical agencies in the capital keep some of the appointment quotas for seniors without smartphones so they can make them onsite, and have opened green channels for seniors without health QR codes.

More provincial-level administrative regions nationwide are following suit, with more detailed implementation moves to be taken soon. In this way, seniors will get quality public medical resources the same as the younger generation do, instead of being left behind in this age of smartphones.

The NHC is to be commended for showing courtesy to seniors and providing the care they need. Caring for the aged means caring for everybody because every family has senior members and everyone will get old one day.