Vitality Health International, an innovative health insurer from South Africa, today boosted its ground-breaking insurance product offering specifically customised for Nigeria’s leading employers. The health insurance offering is unique because it focuses on wellbeing, aimed at positively impacting people’s health outcomes while improving and protecting their lives.
Vitality Health International is owned by multi-award winning South African insurer, Discovery, which changed the insurance landscape with their Vitality Shared-value Insurance model that rewards people for healthy living. Today, Discovery has a global presence, operating in 40 markets (including the USA, UK and China), impacting the lives of more than 40 million people worldwide. Since its launch in January 2022, Vitality Health International has been gaining impetus in bringing health insurance that rewards healthy living to employer groups in the rest of Africa. Vitality Health International is live in five African markets, including the DRC, Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.
Leadway helps to provide deep in-market intelligence so Vitality Health International can provide the Health Insurance and wellness offering which the Nigerian population needs. By using quality health insurance offerings and technology, Leadway Health aims to achieve universal and quality health coverall for all Nigerians. Together, Vitality Health International and Leadway Health are committed to improving the quality of lives of the African people – making the partnership mutually beneficial for both entities.
Dr Tokunbo Alli, CEO of Leadway Health, says: “With our unique use of technology to provide ground-breaking health insurance, we are able to provide our customers with a better, smarter and more rewarding experience. Through this partnership with Vitality Health International, we want to play an important role in the efforts towards universal health care (UHC) in Nigeria. Our goal is to help improve the provision of care and the quality of life for Vitality Health International members and their families, in order to accelerate the achievement of our collective vision.”
Emma Knox, CEO of Vitality Health International says: “Vitality Health International has a core purpose running through everything we do: To make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. The foundation of the Vitality Shared-value model is to reward people for healthier behaviours, which also improves their physical and mental well-being, while improving productivity and decreasing the employer’s insurance or ‘health risk’. Through this model Vitality Health International is contributing towards a healthier society by making businesses and their employees healthier.”
Knox says: “As a data-driven organisation, Discovery tracks data worldwide, and in South Africa, a recent study shows that that very engaged members on Vitality who have achieved Diamond and Gold status on the rewards programme, are estimated to have reduced mortality risk as a result of healthier lifestyles, increasing their life expectancy to 87 years’ old, compared to 67 for the insured population in South Africa.”
After each wellness day, comprehensive reports with metrics and unique insights are shared with employers (data anonymised) to help them improve health outcomes for their employees. Knox adds: “The wellness days that we have conducted in other African markets have been extremely impactful in helping employees understand their health.”
All members of Vitality Health Insurance are offered an on-site wellness experience, fully funded by the health insurance product. Vitality Health Checks, conducted by experienced and healthcare wellness specialists, are an essential aspect of the Vitality programme enabling an individual to better understand their health and how to improve it. risks.
Vitality is a globally recognised programme which rewards people for engaging in healthy behaviours. Members are encouraged to ‘know their health’, take steps to improve their health and get rewarded for meeting their goals.
Employers are rewarded with a cashback of up to 10% for encouraging their employees to get healthy and the Vitality Health Fund that can be unlocked when members complete their Vitality Health Review extends the employees’ outpatient benefits by up to $100, based on completion of Vitality health assessments and positive engagement with the Vitality programme.
By engaging in healthy behaviours, employees can earn exciting weekly rewards with Vitality Health International’s rewards partners Jumia and Uber, as well as from leading mobile network in Nigeria, MTN, where vouchers can be redeemed for achieving their goals. Alternatively, employees can choose to donate towards a life-changing vaccine.
By completing their weekly goals members close their ‘fuel bar’ and successfully earn rewards. They can choose to redeem vouchers from MTN or other alternative partners such as Uber and Jumia, through the Vitality Africa app.
