AS Watson Group Announces First-ever Global Health Index on World Health Day
France and the Philippines are the most health-savvy European and Asian markets respectively
The global survey also reveals the correlation between happiness and health
One in every five people seek pharmacist’s advice when feeling ill
To coincide with World Health Day, an annual global health awareness day designated by the World Health Organization (WHO), AS Watson Group (ASW) announced today the results of the Group’s first-ever Global Health Survey conducted by AS Watson Group’s WISE customer panel, with responses from more than 10,000 customers in 11 European and Asian markets, providing valuable insights into the expectations and needs customers around the globe have in personal health and wellbeing.
A large-scale research to understand global trend and local needs on health
The research was conducted with 10,580 customers of ASW brands in 11 markets, from November 2016 through January 2017. Respondents aged between 15 and 60 years took the survey voluntarily to share their thoughts on an array of health topics.
Respondents were asked about their perceived level of health and how knowledgeable they thought they were about health. WISE devised a formula to harness the vast data so to generate a holistic understanding of the general level of health of the surveyed markets – which was aptly named the Global Health Index; markets which had more people considering themselves healthy and well-versed in health matters scored better in the Index.
Among the 11 surveyed markets, France topped the list, followed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Ukraine, Mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong came in last. Overall, European markets fared better than Asian ones, while Ukraine, Thailand and the three Greater China markets did worse than the global average.
Smile and health are two sides of the same coin
This year’s World Health Day was devoted to raising awareness of depression. In order to learn more about mental health the Global Health Research asked and found that the older we are, the less we smile. This downward trend is alarming and signified the urgency for us to act and improve mental health around the world. Luckily, the Research shed light on a possible solution, with lots of laughs. The Research revealed the relationship between happiness and perceived health condition. For markets whose people smile more often, they enjoy a higher perception of health and wellbeing as well, e.g. France, Mainland China, the Philippines, and Malaysia (please refer to image 2 in the Appendix).
Pharmacists poised to play a bigger role in the community
ASW believes community pharmacists can play bigger roles in the communities around the globe to alleviate the ever-increasing healthcare burden on customers’ and healthcare systems’ shoulders. The Global Health Research found that the majority of people (69%) go to doctors for medical advice, with only 21% would talk to a community pharmacist for medical advice; meanwhile, 35% revealed that they have sought advice from the internet, which could put public health in danger since online advice are not all guaranteed credible.
Honorary Associate Professor William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong, expected a more engaged role for community pharmacists, “Professionally trained with healthcare expertise, both hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists can be and have been trusted professionals in the communities and should be regarded as an authoritative source of health and medical advice; pharmacists can also lessen the mounting pressure on a community’s prevailing healthcare sector, public or private, and release valuable healthcare resources to more critical needs.”
Mobilising 46,000,000 people around the world to #GetActive!
In response to the Research results, and also the WHO’s Sustainable Development Goal, AS Watson will organise the Global Health Campaign to promote healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages.
Themed under “#GetActive”, the Global Health Campaign encourages a more active lifestyle through engaging our customers. All participating ASW markets will organise activities on health topics to energise over 46,000,000 customers around the world. By organising health-themed events we hope to make our communities healthier, including #GetActive outdoor sports challenges, flashmob exercises, in-store activities and social media education campaigns.
To further answer the call from WHO to fight depression, the ASW Global Smile Campaign in June will relay positive energy to all markets around the world, we hope to make our communities more supportive, and eventually free from depression. Apart from fun and engaging activities, people can also visit http://projectlol.hk/share-smile/, upload their cheerful selfies, get their smiles rated and share the joy with all on the social media.
Ms Malina Ngai, JP, Chief Operating Officer of AS Watson Group further explained the reason for taking the health campaign to a global scale, “ASW was founded over 175 years ago to provide quality health products to customers. In view of the facts garnered from Global Health Research, we know that people say they want to be healthier by exercising, but not many of them walk the talk. As the leading international health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe, we want to challenge the mindset of the people that we can all be active in daily life without putting on sports gear, encourage more of them to live healthier, and create closer bonding with their favourite brands by using our healthcare expertise, online and offline.”
