Vunderkind
Social Member
In a bid to creating awareness and promote healthy living at workplaces, Weight A Minute Wellness Company Limited, a wellness/lifestyle management organization, is introducing a ‘Workplace Wellness’ initiative which will promote health consciousness and yield better productivity for corporate organisations.
The event tagged ‘Corporate Wellness Conference’ is Nigeria’s premiere business conference on organizational health.
Speaking at the Conference, which took place at The Civic Center, Ozumba Mbadiwe, VI, Lagos, on Friday 24th Oct, 2014, Fola Osasona, CEO/ Principal Consultant, Weight A Minute Wellness Company stated that there is need to take proactive measure in creating awareness and promoting healthy living at work, to prevent lifestyle chronic diseases and improve workforce health for optimal performance.
Employee wellbeing is a leading indicator of future human capital capabilities- and cost- for employers. The business benefits of addressing wellness are substantial, hence the reason for organizing Nigeria’s premiere business conference on organizational health with the theme, “Employee wellness: Key to corporate Profitability and sustainability”.
Fola explained that chronic illnesses exact a heavy toll on businesses, budgets and economies. “Globally, the lifestyle chronic disease epidemic is growing and this development constitutes the biggest threat to the health, welfare and productivity of the workforce of any organization leading to associated costs.” she said.
According to the WHO report, 80% of deaths in developing countries are due to chronic lifestyle diseases- cancer, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases which claims the lives of its victims in their prime- Chronic diseases often referred to as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which usually emerge in middle age after long exposure to unhealthy lifestyle. “Preventing Chronic Diseases; A Vital Investment: WHO GLOBAL REPORT, 2005.
She stressed that, by confronting the problem of chronic illness systemically, organizations can generate substantial benefits –in the form of increased productivity and lower healthcare costs by reducing the growing burden of chronic disease - and set in motion positive changes that will reverberate well beyond the workplace.
According to Fola, “A company should be able to measure the return on investment (ROI) of a wellness program in the same way it would measure the ROI of, say, an initiative to upgrade its IT system”.
The conference is not only a valuable professional development opportunity for individuals and teams from both large and small organizations, but also presented the best forum to hear from leading thinkers on issues ranging from workplace productivity to corporate social responsibility. It was a gathering together of real people with real stories to tell about the challenges we all face in developing successful, healthy organizations.
The conference assembled a stellar panel comprising industry experts, CEOs, HR Managers, Business Executives, Entrepreneurs, Medical Doctors, Psychologists, Nutritionists, Pharmacists, Mind therapists and Fitness Experts.
The key note speakers at the Corporate Wellness Conference were Mr Ramesh Kurup, MD/CEO Hygeia HMO, Mrs Anne Oragwu, Vice President, Head, Channels Management, FBN Capital and Mr Ben Akaneme, MD/CEO, Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank(formerly GT Homes) others include Dr Adedayo Gbenga, Living Health Nigeria, Dr Osasona, WINBOX AFRICA, Dr Umelo Lohire, Medbury Medical Services and Mr Wale Tejumade, CEO, VVC Limited.
She concluded by saying, “Chronic illness costs; combating it pays. Executives have a responsibility to their employees, as well as their shareholders or sponsors, to engage the subject of wellness with a renewed sense of purpose. The link between interventions and illnesses – by way of changed behaviors – has become too compelling to ignore.
“Companies now have a clear opportunity to improve productivity and lower costs by developing a more rigorous approach to improving wellness.”