Jaipur Walks for Health with Max Bupa

Rolls out a first of its kind multi-city initiative to make over 20,000 Indians walk

Jaipur, October 27, 2012: Max Bupa’s Walk for Health witnessed enthusiastic participation from thousands of people in Jaipur today who pledged to incorporate more walking into their daily routine. Keeping with its philosophy of placing customer’s health first, Max Bupa Walk for Health is a one of its kind initiative aimed at bringing about positive and long term sustainable behavioural change into people’s lives.

Max Bupa Walk for Health was organized at TPS Vaishali Nagar in Jaipur where hundreds of participants walked with their peers, friends and family.

Indians choose to drive for shorter distances over walking, according to Bupa Report 2012 which was carried out in 13 countries including India, China, Great Britain and the United States and surveyed 400,000 people across the globe. In fact a higher percentage of women over men prefer to drive than walk. The report also elucidates on the different reasons for people opting to drive over walking the short distance.  The study further says that every additional 15 minutes of daily exercise such as brisk walking reduced premature death rates by a further 4%.Walking can also cut the risks of ailments like strokes, heart disease and diabetes.

In light of these findings and in keeping with Max Bupa’s mission to help people lead healthier and happier lives, Max Bupa has rolled out first of its kind, health initiative, Max Bupa Walk for Health to emphasize on the importance of simplest and most accessible form of exercise like walking.

Speaking about the initiative, Manasije Mishra, Chief Executive (Designate), Max Bupa said, “Seeing hundreds of people come together for the initiative is a demonstration of their willingness to move towards a healthier lifestyle. Through the Max Bupa Walk for Health, our aim is to spread awareness about the benefits of walking and encourage people to build more walking into their everyday life to enhance their overall well being.”

Birender Ahluwalia, Director – Sales and Distribution, Max Bupa said, “Through this initiative, we want to encourage people to live healthy which doesn’t necessarily have to involve investment in terms of money and time. By consciously incorporating a simple exercise like walking into their lives, they can get healthier. The participation by the people of Jaipur in this initiative is a positive beginning towards cultivating a healthier lifestyle.”

Max Bupa Walk for Health is being organized in October and November 2012 in 11 cities for people of all age groups. On October 27 and 28, 2012, the walks were organized in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Surat and Pune. These will be followed by Walk for Health in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore on November 4, 2012.

Note to the editor:

About Max Bupa Health Insurance

Max Bupa Health Insurance is a 74:26 joint venture between Max India Limited, a multi-business corporate with expertise in life insurance and health care and Bupa, a leading international healthcare provider with 65 years of healthcare knowledge. Max Bupa brings together a combination of Bupa’s global health insurance expertise and customer service expertise with Max India’s understanding and experience of the Indian health and insurance sectors. Max Bupa offers quality health insurance services through a dedicated team of over 1000 people and its network of 19 offices across 12 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi and Kolkata. Max Bupa offers individual and family oriented health insurance policies for Indians across all age groups. Through its philosophy of “Your Health First” Max Bupa’s mission is to help customer’s live healthier and more successful lives.

Strong Network of over 1300 hospitals

Max Bupa Health Insurance has a direct working relationship with a network over 1300 top quality hospitals and healthcare providers and at the same time the company plans to extend its network of hospitals to other parts of the country. Max Bupa at present services customers directly without third party involvement, through an in-house team of relationship managers and also has a 24/7 health line for easy and friendly access to health advice. For more details about the company and a list of all our network hospitals please visit www.maxbupa.com.

 About Max India

Max India Group is a multi-business corporate, driven by the spirit of enterprise and focused on people and service oriented businesses. The Company is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Max India is in the ‘Business of Life’ with its vision is to be one of India’s most admired corporates for Service Excellence. It ‘Protects Life’ through its Life Insurance subsidiary Max Life, a joint venture between Max India and Mitsui Sumitomo; ‘Cares for Life’ through its Healthcare company, Max Healthcare, a joint venture between Max India and Life Healthcare, South Africa; ‘Enhances Life’ through its Health Insurance company, Max Bupa Health Insurance, a joint venture between Max India ltd. and Bupa Finance Plc., UK; ’Rejuvenates Life’ through its Senior Living business Antara, a fully owned subsidiary of Max India and ‘Improves Life’ through its Clinical Research business, Max Neeman, a fully owned subsidiary of Max India. The Group also continues its interest in manufacture of Specialty Products for the packaging industry through its strategic business unit Max Speciality Films.

 The flagship company Max India Limited is a widely held public listed entity, with the owner sponsors, led by Analjit Singh holding over 37% stake. Its other shareholders include some of world’s best Institutional Investors such as, Goldman Sachs,International Finance Corporation, Washington (IFC) and Temasek Holdings

About Bupa: 65 years of Health and Care

Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. Established in 1947, it has over 11.3 million customers in more than 190 countries. Employing over 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. A leading international healthcare group, Bupa offers personal and company health insurance, runs care homes for older people and hospitals, and provides workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, Bupa invests its profits to provide more and better healthcare and is committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.

For more information, please contact:        

Farheen Akhtar

Farheen.akhtar@maxbupa.com

Aanchal Jain

Aanchal.jain@maxbupa.com

9711177957