The Aviva My Health Passport study reveals that many Brits lack essential knowledge about their own health.
The Aviva My Health Passport study reveals that many Brits lack essential knowledge about their own health. Given that medical records are not automatically transferred overseas when people move to live or work abroad, many of the 5.5m people considering leaving Britain1, could find themselves on foreign shores without a record of their previous health.
Key findings from the research include:
- 69% of people don’t know their blood pressure
- 63% don’t know their blood group
- 50% of respondents are either not up to date with their tetanus/diphtheria vaccinations, or don’t know whether they are up to date with their injections
- Nearly one in five women (18%) don’t know when they had their last smear test
- Over a third (35%) have struggled to remember their medical history when they’ve changed GP as a result of a house move.
To help fill this knowledge gap, Aviva has produced "My Health Passport". It is available in two formats, a short downloadable version to capture useful information such as personal details, blood group, illnesses and GP and insurance provider contact details, and a printed booklet to capture more comprehensive health information. This includes details relating to screenings, vaccinations, operations and wellness checks.
Although My Health Passport has been designed with expats in mind, it can also be used by people in the UK as a useful place to store their health records.
Teresa Rogers, business lead for international PMI at Aviva said: “Moving overseas can be stressful, particularly if you are being sent on an overseas assignment for work. With so much to remember, sometimes people neglect one of the most important things - their health.
“Being an international medical insurance provider, we know that a large number of people require medical care while abroad. But, unfortunately, medical records are not easily accessible, particularly as they aren’t automatically transferred by your GP. Easy access to personal health information can be vital, particularly in a medical emergency situation or when visiting a GP or pharmacist abroad. We’ve developed My Health Passport as we want to encourage people to remember to take this information with them.”
Aviva’s My Health Passport can be downloaded from www.aviva.co.uk/healthpassport. A printed version can be requested from hcpr@aviva.co.uk.
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If you would like further information, please contact:
Amber Chable: Aviva Press Office : (023 80 359 383) amber.chable@aviva.co.uk
Reference:
1 Aviva’s 2010 Semi-gration study of 1,500 UK workers aged 18 to 45 through Redshift in March 2010 – of the sample 1,000 workers were aged 18 to 30.
The number of 18-30 year olds in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is currently 10,675,000 as confirmed by the Office of National Statistics, with Aviva’s research finding that 54% have considered moving abroad to work.
All other statistics are from a nationwide survey of 2,000 British adults was carried out for Aviva by market researchers OnePoll. The opinion poll was hosted online at www.OnePoll.com between the 3 and 4 February 2011 and was available to its registered members.
Notes to editors:
Aviva is one of the world's largest insurance groups* with 53 million customers worldwide and 46,000 employees.
Aviva’s main activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £45.1 billion and funds under management of £379 billion*.
In the UK, Aviva takes care of its 19.2 million customers by helping them look after their future, protecting what’s important – from their health to their homes, their cars to their business – and saving for the future.
Aviva has a 10.5%** share of the UK life and pensions market and insures one in six homes and one in 10 cars in the UK. It is also one of the oldest UK insurers, with a heritage stretching back more than 300 years.
RAC, which is owned by Aviva, provides breakdown and insurance services for individuals and businesses and has around seven million customers.
Aviva is carbon neutral worldwide, and is ranked in the top 10% of socially responsible companies globally by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. In the UK, Aviva invested £3.8 million into local communities in 2009. Read our corporate responsibility report at www.aviva.com/cr.
Aviva’s global Street to School programme is working in partnership with Railway Children in the UK to get children living on the streets back into education and everyday life. Find out more at www.aviva.co.uk/street-to-school.
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*based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2009
**Source: ABI data released August 2010