An easy way for South Africa to save R6.3 billion
South Africa is facing a healthcare crisis, and data from Discovery Vitality has examined several ways to make the population healthier – and save money.
According to the Vitality Habit Index, insufficient physical activity is associated with up to 5 million premature deaths globally every year, and estimates suggest that one in five deaths is associated with a poor diet.
The Index mapped the physical activity and nutrition behaviours across one million Vitality members in South Africa and the United Kingdom over a 10-year period to determine how healthy habits can lead to healthier lives.
The World Health Organization estimates that 27.5% of adults and 81% of adolescents are physically inactive.
If this level of inactivity continues, new cases of preventable non-communicable diseases (such as type 2 diabetes) will cost health systems $27 billion (R500 billion) each year.
South Africa is not isolated from this crisis, with over 20 million (more than half) of South African adults being overweight or obese.
In South Africa, about 31% of adult men, 68% of adult women, and 13% of children between the ages of 6-14 years are overweight or obese.
However, there are small steps that can reduce these health risks.
People who formed and sustained a habit of doing physical activity three or more times a week for three years saw a 27% reduction in their mortality risk.
This cohort of people also reduced their healthcare costs by up to 13%.
Those over 65 see a greater benefit with a 52% reduction in mortality risk when they form or sustain a doing physical activity three or more times a week for three years.
For inactive people, even walking 2,500 steps four times a week can reduce their mortality risk by up to 15%.
Looking more specifically, people who sustained a habit of 10,000 steps three times a week for
three years saw a 41% reduction in type 2 diabetes risk, while those following the same exercise routine would see a 36% reduction in the risk of stage 4 cancer.
Discovery also said that the most effective way of creating a healthy habit is by taking small steps:
Healthcare savings
The Habit Index findings showed that these habit formations can unlock significant cost savings, but less than 5% of healthcare spending goes towards preventative healthcare services.
“We calculate at 13.9% saving in-hospital cost for the Discovery Health Medical Scheme base, which is about R6.3 billion saving per year if half of the inactive adult population began consistently walking 5,000 steps once a week and those who have poor exercise habits began consistently walking 5,000 steps three times per week,” Discovery told BusinessTech.
“The South African member base is younger than the UK population, so the saving is a conservative estimate. This is because the impact of a positive change in exercise increases with age.”
If half of the UK’s inactive adult population began walking 5,000 steps once a week, the in-hospital cost-saving would be £4 billion (R95 billion).
This would jump to £15 billion (R356 billion) if exercise is increased to 5,000 steps three times a week.
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