VP Lai urges societywide approach to establishing search platforms for missing seniors

2021/08/25

Enhanced public-private cooperation is key to establishing search platforms for locating missing elderly residents and ensuring every family in Taiwan can rest assured that their loved ones are safe, according to Vice President Lai Ching-te Aug. 21.
 
Taiwan is predicted to become a super-aged society in 2025, Lai said, adding that the demographic shift is expected to bring an increase in instances of missing persons suffering from dementia.
 
Citing statistics from the Taipei City-based Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association, the vice president said such cases are already on the rise. According to TADA, the number of senior citizens with the disease who went missing increased from 1,541 in 2016 to 2,149 in 2020, accounting for 41.6 percent and 46.8 percent of total missing elderly persons in those years, respectively.
 
Setting up search systems to expediently bring seniors home and ease their families’ worries is of paramount importance, Lai said. To this end, the government is leaving no stone unturned in strengthening cooperation with social welfare organizations while drafting and implementing related policies, he added.
 
Lai made the remarks via prerecorded video during an online event marking the 20th anniversary of a search center established by Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly in Taipei.
 
The vice president also took the opportunity to praise the center’s efforts in helping countless families reunite with their loved ones over the past two decades.
 
Established in 1994, Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly advocates for measures protecting senior citizens’ rights while offering support and care services for disadvantaged and independent members of the elderly community. 


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)