'Diabetes and Heart Disease emerge as the biggest health concerns in India'

Diabetes and Heart Disease emerge as the biggest health concerns in India says Bupa Health Pulse 2010 report released by Max Bupa Health Insurance

• Over two in five (41%) of Indians think Diabetes is a key health concern while Heart Disease is a concern for 50% of Indians.

New Delhi, December 7, 2010:Diabetes and heart disease emerge as the biggest health concerns in India, says Bupa‟s Heath Pulse 2010 report. The research quizzed over 12,000 adults globally across 12 countries on their attitudes and perceptions on chronic diseases. According to the survey, 41% of Indians say diabetes is one of the top 3 diseases they are most worried about developing, while half (50%),say point to heart disease. In the 12 countries where the survey was conducted, the percentage of people citing diabetes as one of the top 3 diseases they are most worried about is – Mexico (52%), India (41%), China (38%), US and Brazil (both 35%), Australia (31%), Italy and Russia (28%), Germany (25%), GB and Spain (23%), France (22%).

Over half (55%) of Indians have had a check-up with their doctor /medical centre to assess their risk of developing a chronic disease, 24% have paid for a health assessment, 23% have done personal research online while 9% have participated in a national screening programme. A quarter (25%) of Indians say they have done nothing to assess their risk of developing a chronic disease. This is lower than the international average of 31% who say they have done nothing to assess their risk.

Internationally, 20% of the respondents cite lack of time as the key issue for not assessing their risk factors, 19% cite cost, 11% a lack of information about what to do, 11% say they don‟t know how to, 10% fear the results, 9% don‟t think anything can be done to prevent the onset of chronic disease and 20% don‟t know why they had not taken action.

Commenting on the Bupa Health Pulse 2010 survey findings, Dr. Damien Marmion, Chief Executive, Max Bupa Health Insurance said, “Diabetes and heart disease have emerged as major health hazard for Indians in the last decade due to lifestyle and eating anomalies. At Max Bupa, it is our constant endeavor to help our customers live healthier lives by being their health care partners for life. For this, we help our customers understand their health needs and support them in adopting a healthy lifestyle through our health and wellness initiatives like health checks, information and guidance on nutrition, exercise etc.”

Those in India (37%), Russia (33%) and Brazil (31%) think they are most likely to die of old age, compared to the 26% internationally. Also 33% say they are most worried about cancer. Across the 12 countries this compares to 11% being most worried about developing heart disease, 11% most worried about dementia / Alzheimer‟s and 8% most worried about diabetes. In comparison, those in India are most likely to say the single disease they are most worried about is cancer (18%), followed by heart disease (16%), obesity (15%) and diabetes (14%).

People in Spain and Mexico fear developing chronic diseases the most (at 93%) followed by China and Brazil (at 88%), while in India only 76% of people surveyed feared developing chronic diseases.

The Bupa Health Pulse survey also reveals that in more developed countries, a significant proportion of those who have done nothing to assess their risk of getting a chronic disease say they are not worried about getting a chronic disease. The French (41%), Americans (33%), Germans (32%), British (30%) and Australians (28%) are most likely to say they are not worried about chronic disease. For more information on the Bupa Health Pulse 2010 survey on „chronic diseases‟, please refer to the attached Health Pulse 2010: Chronic Diseases or visit http://www.maxbupa/healthpulse.com

Notes to Editors
About the Bupa Health Pulse 2010 survey
Methodology of Bupa Health Pulse 2010 Research:

• Ipsos MORI interviewed 12,262 members of the General Public across 12 markets between 10 June and 14 July 2010.
• 12 markets:Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and the United States.
• All interviews took place through Ipsos online panels and Ipsos panel partners.
• Quotas were set as to be nationally representative by gender, age and region across all markets with the following exceptions:
• Brazil, China, Mexico and Russia: the quota for age was set to be nationally representative up to the age of 50.
• India: quotas were set on age, gender and region to be representative of the online population.

About Max Bupa Health Insurance

Max Bupa Health Insurance is a 74:26 joint venture between Max India Limited, a $1 billion multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa Group, a leading international healthcare provider with over 63 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa‟s global health insurance expertise and customer service expertise with Max India‟s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality health insurance services through a dedicated team of over 500 people and its network of offices across eight cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana and Surat. Max Bupa‟s flagship health insurance product - ‘Heartbeat’ is an individual and family oriented health insurance cover for Indians across all age groups. Through its philosophy of “Your Health First” Max Bupa‟s mission is to help customer‟s live healthier and more successful lives.

About Max India:A reputation for excellence The Max India Group brings expertise in Life Insurance and Healthcare with a strong presence in Life Insurance (Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited), Healthcare (Max Healthcare Institute Ltd.) and Clinical Research (Max Neeman Medical International Limited). A Rs 7,700 crore group, it has over 670 offices across India, about 90,000 people, all focused on delivering value to its 4.2 million customers.

About Bupa: 63 years of healthcare

Bupa‟s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. Established in 1947, it has over 10.6 million customers in more than 190 countries. Employing over 50,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.

A leading international healthcare group, Bupa offers personal and company health insurance, runs care homes for older people and hospitals, and provides workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, Bupa invests its profits to provide more and better healthcare and is committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing. For more information, visit www.maxbupa.com

For more information please contact Farheen Akhtar(Farheen.akthar@maxbupa.com)