But preventive healthcare is about more than tobacco and alcohol. It is also a question of encouraging people to lead a healthier life with exercise, preventing infectious diseases, reducing the number of people suffering from mental health illnesses, and managing illnesses so they do not get worse. The earlier on preventive measures are taken, the greater are the health-related benefits for the individual and for our healthcare system.
“People’s health is under strain, and we can clearly see this in the entire sector through the increased use of health insurance. We’re of course providing help to all customers who need it. But it’s expensive for society, our customers and for us if we start treatment only after the illness or injury has occurred,” explains Mads Kaagaard, CEO of Danica Pension.
For this reason, around 30 organisations have taken up our initiative and have now formed the prevention alliance ‘Forebyggelsesalliancen For Fremtidens Sundhedsvæsen’, which aims to improve public health in Denmark through early and preventive healthcare initiatives. Danica Pension heads the alliance in its role as secretariat.
“ We hope that the alliance can help us to develop and gain more knowledge as an organisation and also strengthen our position as ‘best in class’ for healthcare in the pension industry. And in the longer term, we’ll contribute positively to improving the health of our customers and the general population. Doing so will help to reduce the number of employees on long-term absence due to illness, and this will benefit our customers, us and society.”
Mads Kaagaard, CEO, Danica Pension
In 2024, the prevention alliance will focus on
Providing the government with a number of specific targets that it can aim to achieve by 2035Compiling a comprehensive ‘idea catalogue’ containing details of what political measures the government can take to achieve the binding targets.
Positive political response
The alliance is made up of a wide range of organisations that will present two ‘idea catalogues’ in 2024 and will also initiate dialogue about future preventive healthcare initiatives and political initiatives to be implemented.“Minister for Health and Senior Citizens, Sophie Løhde, has already expressed her agreement that more needs to be done in the area of preventive healthcare. And the prevention alliance will be in close dialogue with the Ministry of Health about the proposals that the alliance will develop. We believe that preventive healthcare will be a major part of the public health debate in the future because the healthcare system is coming under increasing pressure and preventive healthcare is a topic that’s important for everyone. Working through the alliance, we at Danica Pension want to have a voice in the social debate while at the same time strengthening the collaboration between the public and private sectors so that there’s a benefit for all of society,” concludes Mads Kaagaard.
People in Denmark believe that preventive healthcare should be prioritised by the government
The fact that there is political support for the prevention alliance is very fitting. In a YouGov survey we conducted in 2023 among 2,000 people in Denmark, 6 out of 10 respondents stated that they did not feel that enough is being done to prevent long-term illness.
In the same study, 57% of respondents said that in the area of public healthcare the most important area for the government to be prioritising is preventive healthcare. This underlines the importance of prioritising preventive healthcare at a political level.