Max Bupa and Public Health Foundation of India join hands to promote Walk for Health

Max Bupa and Public Health Foundation of India join hands to promote Walk for Health Launch an innovative walking mobile app GroundMiles on World Heart Day

New Delhi, September 27, 2013:On the occasion of World Heart Day, Max Bupa and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) have partnered to promote Walk for Health, a first of its kind initiative to encourage people to incorporate more walking into their daily lives. Max Bupa and PHFI will work together to raise awareness about the benefits of walking and encourage individuals, families and communities to get walking for a long term positive behavioural change. The campaign will focus on driving maximum participation in Max Bupa Walk for Healthscheduled in Delhi and Mumbai on 20th October this year and promote GroundMiles – a new smartphone application, to help people keep track of their walking habits online.

India has the largest number of cardiac patients, impacting over 100 million people or nearly 10 percent of the total population. Also, according to a global research conducted by Bupa across 13 countries, 26% of expressed heart disease as a major health concern followed by stroke at 12%. Studies have shown that walking plays a critical role in preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Max Bupa is committed to helping its customers live healthier, more successful lives. Max Bupa Walk for Health is aimed at encouraging people to get healthier by taking up walking. More than 18, 000 people participated in the multi-city initiative last year.

The GroundMiles app, developed by Bupa, the UK based parent company of Max Bupaand launched in partnership with the World Heart Federation, globally and PHFI in India, is a personalised and motivational walking app intended to encourage people to integrate more walking in their daily lives. It will help users track their walking quotient, including number of steps taken, distance travelled and calories burnt. Through GPS, the app allows measuring the distance covered, locating walking routes and finding walking clubs. It can be downloaded for free from the android and iOSapp stores,

To encourage children to get walking and draw wider participation in Max Bupa Walk for Health, PHFI and its partner HRIDAY are also mobilising nearly 2000 children from leading schools in Delhi and Mumbai to participate with their families. As part of the initiative, the children will encouraged to make posters on Walk for Health to improve their knowledge and understanding about their health and wellbeing. The best posters will be exhibited at Max Bupa Walk for Health event and seen by thousands of attendees.

Talking about the association, Manasije Mishra, CEO, Max Bupa, said: “As Indians, we are prone to chronic ailments, more so with our sedentary lifestyle and increasing stress levels. Researches across the globe have shown that walking 15 to 30 minutes daily can prevent diseases and help us keep our hearts healthy. I am confident that through our Walk for Health initiative, we will be able to reach out to more and more people and encourage them to get healthier and enhance their overall well-being.”

“Walking brings significant health benefits to body and mind and contributes much to your overall health and fitness. Walking helps you lose body fat, avoid heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some forms of cancers.We look forward to collaborating with Max Bupa for the Walk for Health and Ground Miles,” said Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India and President, World Heart Federation.

Max Bupa Walk for Health 2013 will be flagged off on 20th October in Delhi and Mumbai.www.walkforhealth.in , is a dedicated website on the initiative that has been created for participants to register online with their friends and family and get access to useful tips on walking. Participants can also register free of cost at Bookmyshow.com and toll free number 1800 3010 3333 and on Max Bupa’s Facebook page.

Note to Editors:

About Max Bupa Health Insurance
Max Bupa Health Insurance is a, 74:26, joint venture between Max India Limited, a multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading international healthcare provider with 65 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 1000 people and its network of 21 offices across 13 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana,Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Kolkata and Patna. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups.

Strong Network of 2000 hospitals
Max Bupa Health Insurance has a direct working relationship with a network over 2000 top quality hospitals and healthcare providers and at the same time the company plans to extend its network of hospitals to other parts of the country. Max Bupa services customers directly without third party involvement. For more details about the company and a list of all our network hospitals please visit.

About Max India
Max India Group is a multi-business corporate, driven by the spirit of enterprise and focused on people and service oriented businesses. The Company is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Max India is in the ‘Business of Life’ with its vision is to be one of India’s most admired corporates for Service Excellence. It ‘Protects Life’ through its Life Insurance subsidiary Max Life, a joint venture between Max India and Mutsui Sumitomo; ‘Cares for Life’ through its Healthcare company, Max Healthcare, a joint venture between Max India and Life Healthcare, South Africa; ‘Enhances Life’ through its Health Insurance company, Max Bupa Health Insurance, a joint venture between Max India and Bupa Finance Plc., UK; ’Rejuvenates Life’ through its Senior Living business Antara, a fully owned subsidiary of Max India and ‘Improves Life’ through its Clinical Research business, Max Neeman, a fully owned subsidiary of Max India. The Group also continues its interest in manufacture of Specialty Products for the packaging industry through its strategic business unit Max Specialty Films. The flagship company Max India Limited is a widely held public listed entity, with the owner sponsors, led by Analjit Singh holding over 39% stake. Its other shareholders include some of world’s best Institutional Investors such as, Goldman Sachs, International Finance Corporation, Washington (IFC) and Temasek Holdings.

About Bupa:
Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. Established in 1947, it has over 11.3 million customers in more than 190 countries. Employing over 52,000 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.

About PHFI
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is committed to working towards a healthier India. PHFI is helping to build public health institutional capacity in India, through interdisciplinary and health system connected education and training, policy and programme relevant research, evidence based & equity promoting policy development, people empowering health communication & advocacy for prioritised health causes. Established in 2006 as a public private initiative, PHFI is an independent foundation headquartered in New Delhi and its constituent Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPH) set up by PHFI have a presence in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Delhi NCR, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha). The Foundation is managed by an empowered governing board comprising senior government officials, eminent Indian and international academic and scientific leaders, civil society representatives and corporate leaders