♪ ♪ ♪ in rapidly aging chiena

senile dementia is a growing problem leading to many elderly people going missing. volunteer groups and the government are starting to take action in a bid to locate and reunite lost seniors with their families. dementia is a relatively new problem in recently graying china.

in this episode of "asia insight" we follow china's's unique efforts to find its missing aging citizens. zhejang province names shanghai. it's main city hangzhou flourished as an economic and cultural hub until the 19th century. the city has recently become famous for ali baba, the world's largest online business firm. zhejang is also the first chinese province to become an aging society. in 1983 the number of its residents age 60 or over had reached 10.7% of the population.

the figure for the city of happenshow is more than the national average. zhejiang quickly became a graying society as it became one of the first tone force chienda's one child per couple policy the population control system that started in 1979 and limits couples to having just one child except under very special circumstances. the one child policy has contributed to an aging of the population and created numerous social issues.

the government is hoping that local community groups, common everywhere in socialist china, will help deal with the aging society. in the past these groups helped ensure safety and conducted welfare visits as a part of the socialist state. members used to be local leaders or came from the communist party. but these days they've been recruiting from the public and trying to change their approach. the community groups keep information about all the citizens living within the district. they provide various services, including consultations for the jobless and assistance for

singles looking for a spouse. this particular group began a new measure last year, asking everyone in the community aged over 70 to wear these badges. many people in china use qr, or quick response codes, to exchange contact information, making these badges instantly recognizable to most people.

this community group received government subsidies to make and distribute the badges for free. community groups are also obliged by the state to provide nursing homes, rehab facilities, and places for locals to socialize. they're also required to help monitor their residents' health. about 1,600 elderly live in this neighborhood alone. it's recently been learned that some of them suffer from senile dementia.

this 85-year-old man has been suffering from senile dementia for the past ten years. three years ago he became missing and later became physically disabled.

the man lives alone with his wife, who mostly takes care of him. even though their children and grandchildren visit several times a month. on very bad days he starts shouting and screaming in the middle of the night. due to visual and auditory hallucinations.

the word dementia has only very recently entered the chinese vernacular. and many still have no idea what it is. the woman says that for a long time she couldn't understand why her husband was behaving so strangely. she now knows there's no ultimate cure for senile dementia but is doing whatever she can to care for her husband. elderly people going missing due to dementia is causing a lot of concern. last year a volunteer group received an award from the government for its help in finding them.

ram union rescue the private rescue team mention pd in this news report has become well known all over the country. when seniors with dementia go missing the chances of them being found reduces as time passes. some elderly have even been discovered dead. in the mountains some 60 kilometers from hangzhou ram union rescue operates a training camp. on this day some new recruits are learning the basics.

the new trainees are learning how to descend a cliff. but one of them is so nervous he's frightened to take the first step. as soon as he begins descending he sways away from the cliff. ten minutes later he makes it to

the bottom. something that would take a veteran less than a minute. launched in 2009 ram union rescue is a private sector volunteer group run by mountain rangers. it's funded by ram union. an outdoor sports association. the group's initial objective was to prevent climbers from being stranded. after an increase in people enjoying mountaineering at the turn of the century. since its founding ram union rescue has expanded its activity to include disaster relief and safety education at schools. the group currently has more than 400 members and has received numerous awards from central and local governments.

ram union rescue offers a 24-hour hotline. it's received almost 100 requests relating to missing elderly people in the past two years. and has solved 30% of those cases. members hold study sessions about senile dementia on a regular basis.

xu lijun is the leader. he proposed the idea of searching for the elderly and has been involved in every single mission. when xu first proposed launching search missions for the dementia-suffering elderly, many members opposed.

last year ram union rescue asked an i.t. firm to develop a gps unit and software to help locate the missing elderly. the seniors carry the gps unit, which sends out a signal of their location to the rescue center. the group was able to distribute about 3,000 units for free. thanks to subsidies and donations.

once every few months a ram union rescue member visits the elderly at home to check on the units. this 88-year-old man with symptoms of dementia has been rescued by ram union on numerous occasions. since giving the man the gps unit the rescue team has been able to locate him promptly. a relief for everyone in the family.

one doctor of chinese medicine inspired by ram union rescue's activities has decided to offer his help. he specializes in neurology.

dr. ni kefeng is head of the hospital's rehabilitation center. he also teaches a university graduate program.

reportedly, the number of patients suffering from dementia increases by 300,000 every year. with few institutions specializing in this condition, families are caring for their loved ones with very little understanding and knowledge. on a friday morning just before the chinese new year ram union rescue receives a missing person call. a 75-year-old man has disappeared while shopping with his wife.

the man has gone missing in a very crowded shopping district. it's not the first time he's disappeared and ram union rescue knows him well. he's carrying a gps unit. but the location of the signal hasn't moved at all. when the team arrives at the site xu lijun goes to meet the man's wife, who called for help. the area is much busier than they expected.

the team realizes the man must be in a five-story shopping building. which would explain why the signal has been emitting from the same area for a long time but he hasn't been found. xu lijun tells his team to check the missing man's photo on their phones so they can identify him. he dispatches men at all the store's exits. the rest of the team searches every floor, from the first floor food section to the fifth floor electronics department.

it's a weekend, and the store is extremely busy. there are also many other elderly people shopping. xu goes to the basement to view security footage. he checks to see if the missing man has already locked the building.

some 15 minutes after the search began the gps signal still emits from the same spot. it could be that the man has dropped his gps unit. it's now 30 minutes after the woman reported her lost husband. a member thinks he may have spotted the missing man. he checks his photo. it seems to be him. but the man has wandered off again.

the team is finally able to positively identify the missing man. the man has no idea where he was

or how long he'd been missing. on this day the missing man was found. but some aren't as fortunate.

as inquiries to ram union rescue continue to increase, the group plans to expand nationally and hopes to eventually become a sustainable volunteer group. it's estimated that more than 1 in 20 chinese will suffer from senile dementia by 2020. both the public and private sectors continue their efforts to deal with the situation and find the missing elderly. ♪

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

blossoms. japan is full of fascinating nature and culture. we hope you will come see for yourself. hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday march 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. first an update on ukraine. the united states imposed sanctions on pro-russian separatists and announces more non-lethal aid for the ukrainian governme government. the u.s. also accuses russian-backed rebels of breaking a cease-fire agreement. the announcement issued by the u.s. government says the united states has frozen assets of eight pro-russian separatists and a russian organization recruiting fighters. three officials including a close aide to former ukrainian