Bestmed, one of South Africa’s largest medical schemes and winner of the FIA 2015 Healthcare Product Supplier of the Year award, has joined hands with Eskom to take preventative healthcare education to rural communities in South Africa.
On 12 October, Bestmed kick started a 42-day roadshow in Mpumalanga, at one of Eskom’s sites. The campaign will run for three weeks at 12 Eskom powerstations, where Bestmed aims to reach at least 10 000 people employed at these sites.
Chris Luyt, Marketing, Branding and Communications Executive Manager says, “We have embarked on this campaign to show our commitment to ensuring a healthy and productive nation. We have found that rural communities are somewhat neglected, and this is an opportunity to break that norm. When it comes to healthcare and wellness education, every effort counts. It is for this reason that we will be running healthcare checks with the aim of promoting better living.”
“As it is stated in various reports, over 50% of deaths around the world are caused by chronic diseases, attributable to lifestyle choices. If we can change the mind sets and attitudes of at least 5 000 of the people we reach during this drive, it will have a ripple effect on the larger community,” adds Luyt.
“If the healthcare industry partners in this endeavour, it will slowly start to change the mind set of South Africans and influence them to adopt a healthier lifestyle,” he says.
At the launch of this programme, professional healthcare nurses checked 20 people, and the process went smoothly.
Bestmed continues to raise the bar in the medical aid industry and has grown their membership to reach the fifth overall position in the open medical scheme sector.
“As a not-for-profit entity, we do the best we can to keep our members’ interests ahead of everything,” comments Luyt. “This campaign is another way to educate communities about the benefits of preventative healthcare, as opposed to curative healthcare.”