Balance for a better life

Women are highly aware of the importance of their health, but do not do enough about protecting it, according to a report released on Saturday during the Shanghai Forum.

The Female Health and Risk Management Whitepaper found 79 percent of women surveyed listed health as their top concern.

But 74 percent exercised less than three hours a week, 65 percent reported troubles such as lack of sleep and 58 percent had symptoms of anxiety — and less than 10 percent sought help.

Also, women are more likely to acquire health insurance for family members, but often overlook it for themselves, according to the whitepaper, jointly released by the Fudan Development Institute and Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co Ltd.

The paper was released during the  “Balance for Better” roundtable at the Shanghai Forum.

Zhang Kai, CEO of Manulife-Sinochem, said studying female health protection and risk management is extremely important as women face many specific differences.

“We hope to provide tailor-made products and value-added health services to assist women, so that they can proactively assess health risks and manage their health to best take care of themselves,” Zhang said.

Xu Xian, Dean of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management at Fudan University, said women need to take concrete moves to protect themselves, and better protection is core to strike a good balance in society where women have more important roles to play. 

Also at the roundtable, Manulife-Sinochem announced a three-year strategic partnership with the Fudan Development Institute to become the first joint-venture insurance partner for the institute.

 The partnership aims to make in-depth research and advancements in preventative and protective health care for women, helping address the social issues of health and assist in developing a multi-layered social security and insurance system in China.