Healthy planet
Bupa’s purpose is to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives. We're committed to keeping people well and supporting a healthy planet.
Sustainability is good for our people, good for our customers, good for our local communities and good for business. We believe that we need to take bold steps to do business differently and responsibly, building on our strong history of philanthropy, volunteering, and funding for independent charitable foundations.
Therefore, we have committed to keeping people well and supporting a healthy planet. Our goal is to help millions of people around the world make positive changes that are better for their health and better for the planet, helping fulfil our founding purpose to help people lead 'longer, healthier, happier lives'. We will do this through our people, products, services and partnerships - growing our business by delivering social value.
Our Commitment
We’re committed to keeping people well and supporting a healthy planet.
In 2011 Bupa made a commitment to keep people well and support a healthy planet. We will use our healthcare expertise to empower millions of people around the world to make positive changes to be healthier and happier.
We've also committed to improving the health of planet so it can better support healthy people. Over the next five years we will reduce our direct and indirect carbon footprint and our water use in water stressed regions, whilst also empowering people with the tools they need to make changes that improve their own health and the health of the planet.
The challenge presented by modern lifestyles and ageing populations is one that increasingly affects developing and developed economies across the world. The way we live our lives, characterised by low levels of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits, increases our risk of developing chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disease.
Ageing populations present health systems and governments around the world with the challenge of how to provide high quality care to more and more people.
Our status as a business without any shareholders allows us to go further than other organisation, reinvesting our profits to help people to lead longer, healthier, happier lives. We've been doing this for decades but we want to go further to help millions of people around the world lead longer, healthier, happier lives too.
Keeping People Well
We want to help millions of people around the world be healthier and happier.
At Bupa we're committed to keeping people well. Our ambition is to be a healthcare partner to millions of people around the world by using our healthcare expertise to help people make positive changes to be healthier and happier.
Increasingly, the way we live makes it harder for us to find healthy, and more and more of our customers and our people are suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancers, heart diseases and lung diseases as a result. Combined with rapidly growing and ageing populations; our health systems around the world are struggling to cope.
Chronic diseases are inherently preventable, yet in 2008 they accounted for 36 million deaths worldwide - 63% of all deaths around the world.
The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of chronic diseases could be prevented by addressing the main causes, such as unhealthy eating habits, low levels of physical activity and smoking.Simple changes to our everyday lives, such as taking the stairs or eating more fruit, can help to reduce the risk of getting a chronic disease.
Through our people, products, services and partnerships we're already helping millions of people to make positive changes to be healthier and happier. From supporting our care home residents to be more active through dancing to coaching our customers to quit smoking there are lots of ways we're already helping to keep people well.
It's our responsibility to create the health solutions of the future, so our aim is to do much more. We'll work in partnership with others to find new ways to keep our people, customers and wider society well. By working to create a well world we can grow our business through delivering social value.
Healthy Planet
As part of our commitment to support a healthy planet we will reduce our carbon footprint.
A healthy planet is essential for us to lead healthy lives. Spending time in the natural environment makes us happier and nature provides us with the food and resources we need.
Changes in the earth's climate, air and water pollution and dwindling natural resources pose major health challenges. These threats could affect our supply of fresh water, force us to change the types of food we eat and lead to mass migration of people as they seek security and shelter. Our people, customers, children, grandchildren and communities face these challenges together.
To keep people well, we're committed to changing the way we interact with the environment around us. Over the next five years we will reduce our direct and indirect carbon footprint, and our water use in water stressed regions.
Changing the way we interact with the environment can also directly improve our own health. We're committed to empowering people with the tools they need to make changes that improve their own health and the health of the planet, from encouraging our staff to cycle to work, to using natural light to both reduce energy use and increase the quality of our residential care.
Supporting a healthy planet is core to keeping people well. It can improve the health of our customers and society, and reduce our energy and operating costs. We've made great progress already, but there's much more we can do.