Despite living longer than men, women experience 25 percent more of their lives in poor health, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report. Addressing this gap could boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040.
Alliance members are taking notice. The 2024 Female Economy Analytics Survey reveals that 40 percent of Alliance members now offer insurance products for women, who in turn make up 42 percent of their insurance customers globally. This figure rises to 46 percent in Latin America and 47 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating that adding insurance to a holistic customer value proposition (CVP) for women customers meets strong demand.
Key Insights from Industry Leaders:
Our first Ask the Expert session of 2025 featured speakers from AXA, Access Bank Africa, and Latin American digital health platform Nume, who discussed best practices in developing a holistic health CVP for women. Three important learnings emerged:
1. Raising Women’s Health Awareness is Critical
Raising awareness about specific female diseases, how to prevent and to treat them is essential for increasing health insurance adoption and utilization by women.
AXA has developed targeted insurance based on “moments of truth” during women’s lives:
- Postpartum period: With research estimating that 80 percent of women experience “baby blues” and 10 percent face postpartum depression[1], AXA has launched campaigns in Spain and Switzerland to raise awareness about postnatal mental health. It also covers midwife home check-ins in the weeks after giving birth to identify and support women who may suffer from this debilitating condition.
- Ages 45-55: AXA’s research has found that women in this age cohort are especially vulnerable to burnout and de-prioritize their own health, often juggling peak career responsibilities and care for children and elderly family members while dealing with the effects of menopause. AXA UK has created a holistic service that includes preventative check-ups and works with employers to build support systems for women at this life stage.
AXA also seeks to raise awareness about how common diseases affect men and women differently. For example, while cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of both men and women, it is little known that symptoms differ. Women’s include breaking out in a cold sweat, dizziness, and stomach ache. AXA has launched communications campaigns to educate women about the gender-specific signs of a heart attack and is working with doctors in France and Germany to ensure they proactively inform women about cardiovascular health and encourage heart health check-ups.
Healthtech Nume, led by former OBGYN Dr. Ingrid Briggiler, uses customer data to deliver age-appropriate content on disease prevention and chronic condition management, improving awareness and customer retention while integrating targeted health offerings from strategic partners.
In Nigeria, Access Bank hosts branch events to educate customers about their health value proposition as well as prevention, with Bimpe Gisanrin, head of women’s banking, emphasizing that “you can never have enough awareness about women’s health.”
2. Bundling Products Enhances Uptake
Given women’s tendency to prioritize family members’ health over their own, bundling women’s health with family health and livelihood protection is essential. For example:
- AXA’s “Lady Boss” package in Turkey covers women entrepreneurs’ health, their family’s health, temporary child support and property liability support.
- In Burkina Faso, AXA’s Insurance Net for Smallholder farmers (INES) plan combines crop insurance with health coverage for women shea nut farmers.
- Nume offers free access to their platform to family members and integrates financial literacy content with health information.
3. Digital Delivery is Key
Service delivery through digital platforms makes accessing insurance and wrap-around services convenient and affordable for women.
- Nume has become Latin America’s largest digital health provider through partnerships with major insurers, offering free platform access with premium services.
- Access Bank’s Health Xtra plan provides low-income customers with telemedicine, access to medicine at a network of pharmacies, and coverage at a network of hospitals for 8,500 naira (approximately $6) annually.
By raising awareness, bundling relevant products, and addressing affordability barriers, banks and insurers can help close the gender health gap while tapping into an underserved market.
Over 50 percent of Alliance members have mature women’s markets programs and are increasingly adding value to women by integrating health offers. The rewards for these holistic propositions include higher net promoter scores, increased wallet share, and additional profitability of their Women’s Markets Programs.
[1] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-natal-depression
