PSMAS in lifestyle programme drive

Ishemunyoro Chingwere Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S biggest healthcare funder by membership, Premier Service Medical Aid (PSMAS), has launched a lifestyle programme which it says will save the country up to $2 billion in health costs in the next five years.

The “Premier Lifestyle” is a response to the effects of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) which have been identified as a major consumer of productive time and cause of death due to modifiable lifestyle risk factors such as lack of physical activity, poor diet, risky behaviours such as smoking and high alcohol intake as well as stress.

With a local market share of over 70 percent by membership, PSMAS say the program which teaches their membership on good living practices will most importantly, cause no side effects to patients as opposed to other medical remedies.

This, the group said, is a response to an increase in the burden from these conditions on its membership, which has also affected members’ employers and consequently resulted in increased healthcare costs.

“Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have been identified as the leading cause of loss of productivity and death in the country and the country can save up to $2bn in the next five years by managing them,” said PSMAS in a statement.

“In 2016, for example, private medical aid funders, which cover only 10 percent of the population, spent over $250 million on the treatment of NCDs, mainly cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and Mental Health illnesses.

“There are also economic costs related to absenteeism and poor productivity as a direct result of NCDs.

“Premier Service Medical Aid Society has launched a wellness programme, called Premier Lifestyle designed to reduce the impact of non-communicable diseases and boost economic participation. The Premier Lifestyle programme is a first of its kind offering free lifestyle change management to members on an unprecedented scale. With the tagline, ‘A prescription with no side effects’, the program aims to make healthy living a lifestyle choice for the nation,” said the medical funder in a statement released by its Communications and Brand manager Arthur Choga.

The Society will soon dispatch medical teams across the country which will do screening for example on heart rate, sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol among others then give a risk rating for each section.

Those at risk will then be provided with proposals to manage the high risk areas through a specific diet, exercise and treatment where necessary and all this will be for free to the Society’s members.

Speaking at program launch, Dr John Mangwiro of the Zimbabwe Diabetes Association said people with chronic diseases will manage their conditions much better with interventions from such programs.

PSMAS has embarked on a turnaround path and the Society has introduced new products which had seen its appeal eroded in the market.