Solitary deaths increase in Naha City

According to Naha City Social Welfare Office, there were 40 cases of senior citizens of 65 years of age or older dying while living alone in 2011. In 2012 the number increased two fold to 81.

Precise reasons are unknown but according to the city’s department of social welfare director Hirokazu Shinzato, “It seems that many of these people were withdrawn from the community and family, or lacked physical checkups and subsequently did not receive necessary medical treatment, and that may have been in the background of this to happen.”

In Naha City, 16,551 senior citizens are living alone, and those who live completely alone without any known family members number 8,905. The city anticipates this number will increase in the future.

02:56 29 Mar , 2024