KZN has the most cardiac-related insurance claims

KwaZulu-Natal tops the list when it comes to insurance claims for cardiovascular diseases.

Financial services group Liberty's claim statistics for 2018 revealed that the province had the most claims for cardiovascular diseases in SA, at 26%, while the Western Cape saw the highest percentage of claims paid for cancer, at 27%.

Gauteng had most suicide-related claims at 39.4%.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA's statistics, 225 South Africans are killed by heart disease every day, while 10 people suffer a stroke in SA every hour.

Dr Dominique Stott, Liberty's chief medical officer, said studies done by the Phoenix Lifestyle project published in SA Medical Journal in 2016 indicated that in KZN, Indians had significantly high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, especially at a young age.

"There is an increased incidence of diabetes in people of South Asian origin worldwide and this includes that population group in KZN.

"Diabetes is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease on its own, and the incidence of diabetes is increased with increased BMI and lifestyle choices.

"When diabetes is combined with high cholesterol and blood pressure, the risk of cardiovascular disease is greatly increased," said Stott.

The proportion of suicide claims in KZN was 21.1% and 13.2% in the Western Cape.

Gauteng made up 31.2% of all motor vehicle accident claims across the country.

When looking at the occupation of claimants, 11.2% of claims came from managers, 10.5% from business people, 9.9% from directors, 4.9% from pensioners and 4.1% from farmers.