With lifestyle diseases on the rise, South Africa must wake up to preventative healthcare – and fast.
South Africa is in the grip of a chronic health crisis – and the numbers don’t lie. The country’s rate of chronic diseases (disease burden) far outpaces global averages, putting enormous pressure on a healthcare system already stretched thin. HIV affects a staggering 18.2% of the country’s population (compared to just 0.6% globally), while 15.3 million South Africans suffer from hypertension, making it the leading chronic condition and the biggest killer. Diabetes, with 4.6 million cases, is the second-highest cause of death, and 5.1 million South Africans are living with arthritis.
Cause for alarm
These are not just statistics. They are alarm bells, signalling one undeniable truth: South Africa can no longer afford to treat illness reactively. Prevention must become the core of our national healthcare agenda.
“Encouragingly, our 2024 data show an increase in the use of preventative care benefits compared to 2023,” says Dr Dion Kapp, Executive Manager: Managed Healthcare and Service Providers at Bestmed Medical Scheme. “Ten percent of our members accessed flu vaccinations, up from 8.7% in 2023, while 10.5% of women accessed pap smear screenings, compared to 5.6% in 2023. Twenty-four percent of men accessed prostate specific screenings, which is an increase from 21% in 2023. This proves that when preventative services are relevant and clearly communicated, people respond.”
Dr Kapp notes there is still room for improvement, however. “Uptake of other critical preventative services remains worryingly low,” he says. “Only 0.96% of members accessed bone density screenings, despite osteoporosis being a major risk for people over 45.”
Don’t know, don’t care
Interestingly, cost isn’t the biggest barrier to preventative care in the private sector – education is.
“Too many people only see a doctor when symptoms appear. This mindset needs to change,” says Dr Kapp. “Prevention isn’t about treating illness early – it’s about stopping illness before it starts or treating it at an early stage. Awareness campaigns are great, but real change will come from building a culture of wellness. We need to reposition health as a lifelong journey.”
The healthcare sector has an important role to play in driving this change. This includes partnering with key stakeholders, i.e. collaboration between public and private health sectors, to raise awareness around healthy living, early detection and disease prevention.
“Should the population’s lifestyle choices remain unchanged in the coming years, we can only anticipate an increase in lifestyle diseases over the next decade, driven by factors such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyles and stress. Medical schemes have a crucial role to play in mitigating this increasing trend by offering and promoting preventative healthcare, wellness programmes, early detection screenings and chronic disease management programmes. We may see the public health sector introduce stricter health policies – from expanded sugar taxes to tighter food regulations – to tackle lifestyle diseases.”
Looking to the future, Dr Kapp says, “The future of preventative healthcare in South Africa depends on shared responsibility. It requires individuals to engage in their health journeys, medical schemes to provide accessible, data-driven services, and public service providers to lead with supportive policies. We are committed to participating in this shift – one that prioritises wellness over illness and empowers South Africans to live their best, healthiest lives.”