Health Inclusivity Index: Providing better access to self-care and healthcare

It would be a tragedy to forget the lessons learned during the pandemic and lose the opportunity to make healthcare more accessible. COVID-19 demonstrated that barriers preventing full access to healthcare can indeed be overcome through long term collaborations, better infrastructure and empowering individuals to take control of their wellbeing. 

Which is why I am thrilled to introduce Haleon’s Health Inclusivity Index, an ambitious three-year programme which aims to improve access, understanding and the use of information and services available to people. Produced in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Health Inclusivity Index will, for the first time, draw together in a single place key data and provide insight to policy makers, partners and customers we hope inform decision-making to increase access to healthcare. To begin with the Index will cover 40countries and over three years we will increase the scope of the index to 80 countries.  

At some point in our lives, we all need to be able to find, understand and use health information services. However, this is not as straightforward as we might think. Too many people are held back from better everyday health due to a lack of knowledge, understanding and support, or because of bias and under-representation in healthcare systems. There are far too many examples of companies and healthcare professionals producing information that is too difficult for people to understand. Not to mention the vast amount of misinformation on the internet. To me, true health inclusivity means that no matter where you live, your income level or ability to process information, you still have choice and autonomy when deciding on healthcare solutions.

Health literacy plays a significant role in maintaining, preventing and treating disease as well as relieving pressure off our healthcare services. In fact, in the UK it is estimated 5% of the NHS spending is attributed to poor health literacy alone. [1] Gaining access to healthcare practitioners proves to difficult and will continue to be as we recover from the pandemic. Healthcare systems are under increased pressure with 1 in 3 GPs intending to quit in five years [2] and 1 in 9 people are currently sitting on the NHS waiting list[3]  – leaving many without the access to the care they need.

Having beat cancer, I’m very familiar with the routines and check-ins needed to stay healthy for the long term. I recognize I am extremely fortunate to have private healthcare, a relatively high literacy level and on an ongoing relationship with my oncologist, who I get to work with closely to design a program that helps me manage and maintain my wellbeing effectively. But I, occasionally, do get confused by the conflicting medical advice I am exposed to. If I am struggling in the space, even with the resources available to me, imagine what others go through when navigating the selfcare shelves in pharmacies and supermarkets. 

Research tells us that 80% of people accepts responsibility for managing their own health but only 20% knows how to do so. [4] With the excessive amount of unfamiliar, confusing or even conflicting terminology, it is illogical to ask people to figure out health services for themselves. In order to turn customer intentions into action, we must empower them to get more involved with their health. Giving them the knowledge that allows them to prevent and treat illnesses at home as well as seek the correct medical help when needed is one way to tackle this. Stay tuned for an update later this week on technology to allow the vision impaired to get the important information they need from our products...

It is crucial that we work towards solving this challenge in order to achieve greater health outcomes for society. With our mission to deliver better everyday health with humanity, not taking the lead in this space would mean failing our customers and employees. We have started many conversations around this issue, but we need to quicky convert discussions to action using our data, partnerships and world-class portfolio.

We understand that in order to address a problem you must first quantify the problem. This is why the Health Inclusivity Index is an incredibly important first step for Haleon as it allows us to define the size of the challenge we are facing so we can better work towards creating a more inclusive healthcare environment around the world. 

Citations:

1.      5% of the NHS spending is attributed to poor health literacy [NHS]

2.      1 in 9 people are waiting on the NHS waiting list [BBC]

3.      One in three GPs intends to quit within five years [BMJ]

4.      GSK 80% of people accept responsibility for managing own health but only 20% know/feel empowered to do so [GSK]