By Jeanne Nel

On the 9 August we celebrate another Women’s Day in South Africa. In fact, the whole month of August is dedicated to celebrating women, their value to society, their achievements and how to reward them for the outstanding and the everyday things that they do to inspire their family, their colleagues and their friends.
It is therefore only fitting that we focus on the health and financial wellness of women during this month.
Let’s talk about health first because as we know if you do not have a healthy body and mind, financial health will not follow.
Recently a young woman aged 26 told me that she had been examined by her Gynaecologist and told that she has abnormal cervical cells that may be cancerous. Imagine the shock for this young woman to be told that she may have cancer.
Her immediate thoughts were that she may not be able to have a child, she may need to undergo Chemotherapy, what the cost of this treatment would be and what the impact on her business will be
Liberty’s Living Lifestyle benefit has given her some comfort as there will be money to pay for the treatment and loss of income, but it does not resolve the other health related issues that this may cause. This brings me to the next part of this story.
Are you, as the mother of a girl, aware of the fact that you can have your girl child vaccinated against Cervical Cancer? This generally is applied at ages between 11 to 25 and essentially before the girl becomes sexually active. This will protect them from the Human Papilloma Virus, the main cause of Cervical Cancer.
Below is a link to more information about this virus and the vaccine.
https://www.cansa.org.za/new-vaccines-preventing-cervical-cancer/
Liberty Life recently published their claims stats for 2018. 31% of the R4 699 541 602 total amount paid in claims, were paid to women. Cancer claims made up 34.9% of this Amount. The top five causes of cancer in women are reflected below.
49.4% Breast cancer
7.5% Colon and rectal cancer
5% Lymphoma
4.6% Thyroid
4.1% Cervical
Ladies, we know that you are all Super Woman, but do not be complacent. Ensure that you have the correct cover in place to secure your financial future and vaccinate your girls to protect their future health .
Have a great Women’s month and remember to speak to your Financial Adviser.
We can be contacted on 010 822-5100.