Haleon SA champions self-care as a critical health solution

Globally, self-care has become synonymous with pampering and luxury. Macelle Erasmus, head of Expert at Haleon SA, calls for a shift in perspective — one that recognises self-care as a critical pillar of SA’s healthcare system.

The World Health Organization refers to self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker”.

“Self-care is as wide-ranging as it is empowering for both individuals and healthcare systems. It acts as a bridge between traditional settings of healthcare, and the everyday environments and experiences which impact people’s health,” says Erasmus.

A critical healthcare solution

With 3.6-billion people — half of the world’s population — lacking access to essential and quality health services, self-care has become essential.

Self-care simultaneously infers consumer self-medication, so it’s not surprising that over-the-counter (OTC) products account for about 64% of sales within the consumer healthcare market, according to PwC. More specifically, OTC products command 11% of the entire pharmaceutical market.

PWC’s insights on the SA self-care industry from 2022 show that the demand for consumer health products has collectively and consistently demonstrated substantial growth. According to PwC’s high growth scenario, the country’s self-care market will reach R115bn by 2025 (Euromonitor puts it at R127bn).

Self-care recognises individuals as active agents in managing their own healthcare, in areas such as health promotion, disease prevention and control, self-medication, providing care to dependent persons, rehabilitation, and palliative care. 

It’s an evolving health priority driven by the need for more sustainable, accessible healthcare models, especially in resource-constrained and rural communities.

SA’s health challenges — such as high rates of chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, mental health disorders and HIV — make self-care essential for improving quality of life and reducing the strain on the overextended healthcare system.

Research by the Global Self-Care Federation shows self-care interventions now save $119bn in costs and $1.9-trillion in welfare spending globally, with potential future savings of $179bn and $2.8-trillion. 

These interventions save 11-billion hours of patients’ time and 1.8-billion hours of physicians’ time. Analyses also indicate that these figures could rise to 18-billion hours for patients and 2.8-billion hours for physicians. 

This suggests that a greater focus on self-care could significantly reduce healthcare demands, lower costs, improve care effectiveness, and conserve resources by minimising the need for clinical treatments for manageable conditions.

“Self-care is becoming the cornerstone of SA’s health strategy, especially as we grapple with managing chronic illnesses amid resource and infrastructure constraints,” says Erasmus. “It’s essential that we empower people to uphold the tenets of self-care in a way that prioritises their everyday experience of health outside formal healthcare settings.”

Trusted brands for everyday health

Haleon, a global leader in consumer health, with a purpose to deliver everyday health with humanity, has a product portfolio that spans five major categories: oral health, pain relief, respiratory health, digestive health and other, and vitamins, minerals and supplements.

In SA, Haleon brands have been part of household self-care tool kits for generations, namely through the heritage brand Grand-Pa, which has been responsibly helping people manage their pain and fever for more than 100 years. Other category-leading Haleon brands, which are trusted by consumers and recommended by experts, include Sensodyne, Centrum, ENO and Voltaren.

Accessing self-care products such as these, with or without the help of a healthcare professional, makes it easier for people to care for themselves and their families every day. That is, whether through twice-daily brushing with fluoride-containing toothpaste, managing pain, treating coughs, colds and flu at home, or by taking vitamin and mineral supplements to support a healthy diet.

Notably, a recent study on the impact of self-care strategies in diabetes treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa points to its efficacy as a viable and necessary healthcare intervention. Where patients were empowered to manage their conditions in terms of dietary adherence, regular physical activity, medication adherence, blood glucose monitoring, foot care, and educational or support programmes, there were positive results in primary and secondary health outcomes.

This highlights that when individuals are empowered to manage their conditions, healthcare systems can shift from reactive to preventive, enhancing both quality of life and system efficiency. For Haleon, this also boils down to promoting health inclusivity.

Promoting health inclusivity

Health inclusivity means increasing opportunities for as many people as possible to enjoy better everyday health, including the socially and economically marginalised, and those potentially discriminated against because of disability, age, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. 

Haleon has partnered with Economist Impact to develop the Health Inclusivity Index, a comprehensive programme that analyses efforts to improve health inclusivity globally and drive positive change. 

The index is a world-first global study measuring how successful countries are in using policy to remove the personal, social, cultural, and political barriers that could otherwise prevent people and communities from achieving good physical and mental health.

The study examined 40 countries and found that SA ranks in the upper third for health inclusivity, with notable achievements:

• 13th overall in health inclusivity, scoring 70.8 (out of 100);
• 16th in health in society, scoring 73.9;
• 24th for inclusive health systems, scoring 60.4;
• Sixth for people and community empowerment, with a score of 78.4 — the highest-scoring domain, achieving the maximum indicator score for people empowerment itself and a high score for its culture of practice.

“Self-care is not a mere ‘nice-to-have’ occasional indulgence. In many instances, it is the inflection point at which empowered healthcare users can change the trajectory of their healthcare experiences and outcomes,” says Erasmus.

This article was sponsored by Haleon SA.