{"id":820341,"date":"2025-04-10T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=820341"},"modified":"2025-04-10T09:36:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:36:50","slug":"discovery-sounds-the-alarm-on-growing-health-crisis-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/820341\/discovery-sounds-the-alarm-on-growing-health-crisis-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery sounds the alarm on growing health crisis in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New data from Discovery Life shows that suicide rates are skyrocketing in South Africa, accounting for more deaths than motor vehicle accident deaths among its clientele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was revealed in Discovery Life’s 2024 claims experience report. The group paid R11.5 billion to clients over the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that over 99% of claims were paid out in 2024, while non-disclosure, misrepresentation and fraud caused less than 1% of claims to be denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comprised R6.85 billion in individual life insurance claims, R2.4 billion in Shared-value payments and R2.3 billion in Group Risk claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Life also pays more through living benefits, R3.1 billion, and Shared-value rewards, R2.4 billion, than for mortality claims R3.4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy comparison, the industry pays about 20-30% in living benefits, while Discovery Life is paying out over 60% to clients who are still alive,\u201d said Discovery Life Deputy CEO Gareth Friedlander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Discovery Life did see some concerning trends amongst death statistics in South Africa, particularly those linked to unnatural causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One in five deaths were due to unnatural causes, with the largest component being suicide at a staggering 35% of unnatural deaths.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is more than the 23% due to motor vehicle accidents, the 17% for crime, 10% for trauma and 15% for other accidents<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery noted that the total claims due to suicide for individuals older than 50 increased by 62% in 2024 compared to the five-year average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45% of unnatural claims for those between 41 and 60 years old were from suicides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

63% of suicide claimants who were members of DHMS were registered as having been diagnosed with depression, anxiety or bipolar mood disorder conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Maritha van der Walt, Chief Medical Officer for Discovery Life, said that the trend of suicide deaths is concerning as they are preventable via medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Life said that the high proportion of unnatural deaths highlights the need for comprehensive life cover for everyone, no matter their health status or age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe data also emphasises the importance of taking mental health concerns seriously, as well as fostering a culture of better driving on South African roads,” said Van der Walt.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Source: Discovery Life <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Main causes of death <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The 2024 claims data shows that cancer was the main cause of death for women (35%). It was also the most common severe illness for both women and men (51% and 37%, respectively)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also the most common cause of disability among both women and men, at 34%
And 30% respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the 2024 data shows a significant increase in screening for common cancers, with mammograms up 14%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colorectal cancer screening is up 29%, and prostate exams are also up 19%, all of which are hitting all-time highs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the increase in screening rates, there has also been a 62% increase in early-stage cancer claims compared to 2020’s claims on illness cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a proportion of all cancer claims, lower severity claims continue to have an upward trajectory, showing that these cancers continue to be detected earlier,” said Van der Walt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While Stage 3 and 4 cancers have remained relatively stable over that time, it\u2019s in the disability claims for Stage 4 cancers where we\u2019re seeing incredible benefits of screening, with those claims dropping 16% since last year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cancer and heart, and artery conditions were prominent in life cover claims for older age groups, with the latter accounting for 34% of deaths for those over 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motor Vehicle Accidents were the leading cause of death for those aged between 18 and 30. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovery Life has noted a concerning trend in deaths due to unnatural causes, which account for one in five deaths. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":812768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[4883],"class_list":["post-820341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820341"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820359,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820341\/revisions\/820359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}