Unu Health Launches As-You-Go App for Affordable Private Healthcare Access

Hi Guys, 

Unu Health launches a game-changing health app into the South African market with private healthcare from R179.

Unu Health is charting a new course in tech-driven healthcare with the launch of its innovative As-You-Go private healthcare app. This initiative, which blends cutting-edge technology with essential health services, is poised to transform the landscape of healthcare accessibility and affordability for South Africans.

Leveraging the power of digital platforms, Unu Health’s app serves as a central hub for medical services, directly accessible via smartphones. This approach addresses the significant challenges faced by many South Africans in accessing healthcare, primarily due to cost and convenience barriers. By bringing health solutions into the digital realm, Unu Health offers a forward-thinking solution to a critical national issue.

As the global community marks World Health Day this April, the timing of Unu Health’s app launch couldn't be more pertinent. Offering private healthcare services starting at just R179, the app caters to the needs of a diverse user base, ensuring that quality healthcare is within reach for all South Africans.

In a country where healthcare access is often limited and demands on individuals' time are high, Unu Health's As-You-Go offering represents a significant milestone in bridging gaps in healthcare accessibility and affordability. Unu Health aims to give the mass market a patient-centric experience that empowers users to prioritise their health and well-being amidst their busy schedules by offering flexible and on-demand healthcare services, such as an online doctor consultation within minutes. Having spoken to thousands of users and testers in the past two years, Unu Health understands the needs and gaps and has designed an app to help keep healthcare simple, convenient and affordable.

“The launch of the As-You-Go offering extends access to the mass market, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their financial constraints or busy schedules, can prioritise their health and well-being,” said Tania Joffe, CEO of Unu Health.

The As-You-Go model is emblematic of the digital age, providing flexible, -on-demand healthcare services that empower users to take charge of their health and well-being. The launch of the app offering is supported by a partnership with Intercare (a healthcare group), which provides Unu Health app users access to their online healthcare services and a national network of in-person doctor consultations. It comes at a pivotal time as South Africa continues to grapple with its status as the world's unhealthiest country, as highlighted five years ago in the 2019 Indigo Wellness Index (which focuses on blood pressure, blood glucose, obesity, depression, happiness, alcohol use, tobacco use, exercise, healthy life expectancy, and government spending on healthcare).

Acknowledging the partnership with Intercare, Joffe said, “Our collaboration with Intercare aligns perfectly with our mission to provide easy access to healthcare through digital platforms. Intercare brings clinical expertise, while Unu Health focuses on ensuring that access to the medical services offered are designed around the needs of individuals in today’s fast-paced world.”

"This partnership empowers us to enhance accessibility and convenience for patients, ensuring they receive top-tier clinical services seamlessly integrated into Unu Health's user-friendly app," says Hendri Hanekom, Managing Director at Intercare. As a healthcare group committed to enhancing access to affordable, quality, integrated healthcare, our extensive network of medical facilities and integrated online healthcare services complement Unu Health's innovative digital platform, offering patients comprehensive access to high-quality clinical services whenever they need it, especially for lifestyle-related diseases.

Unu Health has an ecosystem approach to driving the cost of healthcare down and the quality up by working with leading healthcare players that can adhere to their charter of care that always puts the patient at the centre of the experience.

Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) head-on

Beyond the online and on-demand access to Intercare doctors and nurses and the national network of in-person doctor consultations, Unu Health facilitates early detection of critical health conditions through innovative features like a 50-second face scan for vital signs. This tech-centric approach is crucial in combating non-communicable diseases, which are the leading cause of premature mortality.

Users will be able to do a free monthly health check from the data-free Unu Health app, measuring blood pressure, pulse, and blood oxygen levels. Thus, everyone with the app can pick up early warning signs associated with hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Studies have shown that in South Africa, 215 people die of a stroke or heart attack daily. Eighty per cent of these deaths are premature and preventable. Key contributing factors include elevated blood pressure or hypertension and obesity. Three in every four women are obese in South Africa, with a body mass index (BMI) above 30, and one in three men. “The Unu Health app calculates BMI, providing users with crucial insight to potential health risks,” explained Joffe.

A further contributing factor is elevated fasting glucose, experienced by one in three adults in South Africa. Roughly 13% of the country’s population suffers from diabetes, which is the number one cause of death among women. More than half are not aware of this, as they have been asymptomatic for the first decade or so. Early detection and access to information that helps people adopt healthier habits is key to turning the tide on non-communicable or lifestyle-associated diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Phathokuhle Zondi, Clinical Lead at Unu Health, highlighted the profound implications of these statistics, stating the importance of confronting these challenges head-on and embracing innovative approaches to healthcare delivery that prioritise accessibility, affordability, and empowerment.

Acknowledging the partnership with Intercare, Joffe said, “Our collaboration with Intercare aligns perfectly with our mission to provide easy access to healthcare through digital platforms. Intercare brings clinical expertise, while Unu Health focuses on ensuring that access to the medical services offered are designed around the needs of individuals in today’s fast-paced world.”

"This partnership empowers us to enhance accessibility and convenience for patients, ensuring they receive top-tier clinical services seamlessly integrated into Unu Health's user-friendly app," says Hendri Hanekom, Managing Director at Intercare. As a healthcare group committed to enhancing access to affordable, quality, integrated healthcare, our extensive network of medical facilities and integrated online healthcare services complement Unu Health's innovative digital platform, offering patients comprehensive access to high-quality clinical services whenever they need it, especially for lifestyle-related diseases.

Unu Health has an ecosystem approach to driving the cost of healthcare down and the quality up by working with leading healthcare players that can adhere to their charter of care that always puts the patient at the centre of the experience.

Embracing the future world of healthcare

Unu Health's introduction of the As-You-Go offering highlights its commitment to innovating healthcare accessibility and affordability, a basic human right many struggle to access. By empowering consumers to monitor vital signs at the click of a button on their smartphones, Unu Health provides free access to the new era of proactive healthcare management.

“We designed the As-You-Go model to demonstrate that access to quality healthcare is as convenient as shopping for essentials online. The platform's inclusive healthcare solutions cater to diverse needs, ensuring accessibility and affordability for everyone's journey toward a healthier, happier life,” said Joffe.

The Unu Health As-You-Go app is available for download on Google Playstore, Apple iStore, and Huawei App Gallery.

About Unu Health

Unu Health is a curated digital platform that delivers access to a range of healthcare offerings and the latest health tech solutions designed to deliver real value for its users. Unu Health gives users the technology, tools and tips they need to stay healthy all in one simple app that’s free. They have two payment models should access to a doctor be needed, with one simple click, either the As-You-Go offer with access to a doctor or by subscribing to a health plan which currently is only available through an employer as an UnuForBiz offering.

Unu Health’s technology provides access to medical insurance plans at the touch of a button – no more standing in long queues to see a nurse or doctor.

Website: https://unuhealth.org/

Note - Press release as supplied by Unu Health South Africa

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Always Know Who's Calling with CallApp: Caller ID & Recording @getcallapp #AndroidApp #CallApp

Hi Friends,

Smartphones do provide us with unlimited potential to live our life fully depending on how we manage and control the same or does it control us? It's a mutual relationship that can benefit both parties if they trust each other and rely on to take good care of each other. Now smartphones do have a mind of its own but it needs various organs like heart, lungs etc whom we can mark as the smartphone apps which we install as per our needs and area of life we want to bring proficiency and professionalism into. Some of these apps give you certain default functionality which you might want to expand and get more additional functionality so as to control your time, money and efforts spend to manage the same. 

The Google Play Store has millions of apps and so is the case with the Apple iOS and it becomes physically impossible to check out all the apps so you rely on word of mouth or the ratings associated with the platform or the number of people installing and using the app. The more the count of people trusting the app, the better are the chances of you going to try it out. I also came across an app which I was not aware of at all because my use of direct network calls is very limited during the covid times and the whole WhatsApp and Teams calling took a huge plunge. 

As the markets are opening up after the lockdown restrictions are getting lifted after a huge gap of 1.5 years almost, we are starting to receive calls from a lot of telemarketers and SMS to change our funeral to car insurance. Though they mention that the new quote will reduce their premiums and give you better deals than your current ones but it's almost most of the time a huge waste of time. The time that you could spend reading, playing with your kids, relaxing or walking is now spent on answering the call from a number you don't recognize. The human mind is always in a dilemma that to pick up an unknown number or not as it might be an important call or it may be a regular teleprompter call but in the end, we always took a risk to accept the call else our mind lingers on all the possibilities of who would have called you. 

CallApp is the app in my reference that offers some features which can make my life easier and productive. It is just 30MB to install from the Google Playstore currently and is free to download. The CallApp offers features like Caller ID, Phone number lookup, manages your address book, calls blocker, automatic call recorder, blacklisting numbers and much more fun features too as we explore the app. 

1. Caller ID - CallApp is one of the best caller ID app in the market which instantly recognises the person who is calling on your phone and identifies it against the huge list of people and tells you on screen as to who is calling you even if you have not saved his or her number. You will always know who is calling you which is a great advantage in itself. 

2. Block Spam Calls - The choice is in your hands and a simple swipe on the smartphone screen to disconnect the call if you don't want to listen to the marketing new schemes from the agencies or if someone is trying to harass you. 

3. Insights - CallApp also offers all the insights related to your calling pattern and behaviour so that you become aware of the time spending on the general calls. This is different from the Digital Wellbeing the android smartphones offer as default but more insightful to whom you are calling the most, whose calls you have missed, how many answered and unanswered calls within this week, spam calls, blocked calls, and how the CallApp has helped you to identify the contacts. I have never seen such kind of detailed report in any of the apps earlier ever before. 

4. Call Recorder - You now have the facility to record your calls which you can save in AMR, WAV or MPEG4 formats. You can define your audio source too. 

5. Social Sync - You can connect the app to Facebook for an improved contact list automatically getting updated in case any of your contacts move to a new number. 

6. Location - Based on your location, nearby contacts of restaurants, hotels and public places will be shown to you to make an appointment or booking. 

7. Incognito Call - Now you can have an incognito feature too just like a web-based browser where you can call anyone without revealing yourself. 

8. CallApp+ - There is also an option to upgrade the app to CallApp+ which has the features to identify people on messaging apps too. The premium features can be bought at the cost of around R265 one time only or an annual subscription can also be bought at around R20 per month. The benefits of the premium version are no advertisements, premium support, identify messages too, backup all your files, advanced blocking, who viewed your profile, unlimited call recordings without any space limitations, all personal insights and so much more. 

9. Fun Features - You can get some great benefits as you refer 20 of your friends to start using CallApp, you earn 20 points once all your 20 friends install the app which enables new fun features at each stage of the app. The features like keypad themes, colour themes, covers, super skins, video ringtones, and the prized possession of getting CallApp+ free for a year or so once you reach 20 references stage which is a great fun way to share with added benefits. It can also tell you which of your friends is celebrating his or her birthday today so that you can wish them personally via call. There is a whole store built-in into the app to choose your video ringtone, super skins from landscapes to dragons, marine life, textures, callman, patterns etc. The covers also can be assigned to the most used contacts for faster identifications. Some of these items come as default for free and as you invite more people, you get access to a lot of new ones. Colour themes do the same thing without any picture though in the background if you love the minimalist look of your contacts. Then there are keypad themes that make your dial-pad looks fun. 

10. Call Reminder - It will remind you of all those calls which our wife or family tells us to make and somehow during the course of the day, we miss it. The app has a feature to remind you of all those events that are important in your life to do. It asks for whom you want to make calls to and you can set the time when you want to make the call. It gives you the option to schedule it in the calendar app or in CallApp directly. 

In the end, all these make my day to day experience of using my smartphone better with a lot of colours and brings me insights as to how much time is spent talking to people in general and talking to my parents, cousins, and close family members to keep them closer to my heart, mind and soul. I would highly recommend you using the app and the link to join the same on your Android smartphones is https://go.onelink.me/J2qV/d0abe3a8. Let me know your experience having installed the same? 

Cheers!!!

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