BHF360° | DECEMBER 2021
INSIDE HE ALT H C A RE
EXPANDING INTO
untapped healthcare markets Thoneshan Naidoo
The contentious matter of low-cost benefit options for medical schemes has been on the table for a number of years, without much demonstrable progress.
Principal Officer: Medshield Medical Scheme
T
he age-old adage of ‘Health is Wealth’ truly came to the fore with the financial impact of COVID-19. Over the past 19 months we experienced one of the worst economic downturns in South Africa’s recent history, with our GDP contracting by 7% in 2020. The impact of the healthcare crisis and the national lockdowns saw many industries, such as tourism and hospitality, brought to their economic knees, and this was further compounded by absenteeism due to ill health and the death of economically active individuals. Approximately three million South Africans have tested positive for COVID-19, and about 90 000 people have passed away. However, in a broader perspective, when you take into account the 260 000 excess deaths, that totals almost 350 000 COVID-19 deaths. Since the majority of those individuals would have been of income-earning age, this means that hundreds of thousands of families’ household incomes have been affected for years to come. But it’s not all doom and gloom - there is hope. If we focus on enabling quick and efficient access to quality healthcare, we
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will experience less absenteeism and fewer excess deaths, which will result in South Africa becoming more productive overall. This will translate into more goods and services, which would increase the GDP and in turn elevate individual quality of life and give more households the income to live better, healthier, longer and prosperous lives. If we can expand into untapped healthcare markets though providing easy access to quality healthcare at affordable prices we will indirectly help the GDP and create jobs. Internationally peerreviewed literature has demonstrated a direct correlation between the health of a nation and its GDP, with some citations stating that a 1% increase in life expectancy results in an average 6% increase in total GDP. In realising this benefit, Medshield has a two-pronged strategy to enable access to sustainable and affordable quality healthcare through innovative products and benefits. It all starts with smart primary healthcare – delivering primary healthcare in a smart manner through the combination of face-to-face consultations and the use of technological innovations to enhance access to basic care, such as general practitioners and clinics, for low-income households that cannot
