Why climate change is reshaping health and healthcare funding
Kevin Aron, Principal Officer at Medshield Medical Scheme
29 July 2025
JOHANNESBURG - When we consider the threats to our health, we tend to focus on the obvious: chronic illnesses, poor nutrition, or physical inactivity. However, another force is quietly accelerating health risks and driving up medical costs: climate change.
At Medshield Medical Scheme, this is not just a theory. It is a pattern we see in our members' health and claims data. Climate change has moved from being an environmental concern to a direct threat to public health. And it demands a fast, strategic, and systemic response.
Climate stress is fuelling health and cost crises
Climate change amplifies acute and chronic health conditions and, we’re seeing a rise in climate-related conditions across both urban and rural member groups. In rural areas, health issues associated with the declining air quality and environmental exposure is fuelling claims for respiratory infections, tuberculosis, asthma, and bronchitis. In cities, extreme weather conditions, pollution, and economic stressors are resulting in anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
It is not just a series of isolated trends. It's a signal that our healthcare system must evolve to address a new, climate-driven health landscape. Environmental factors like heat, pollution, and limited access to clean water and food make managing lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity even harder. The result includes rising claims, soaring costs, and poorer health outcomes.
Our strategy: prevention first, with climate in mind
At Medshield, we follow a prevention-first approach. Our managed care programmes are designed to detect and manage chronic conditions early; especially in high-risk environments where climate change adds pressure. We support vulnerable members through targeted coaching and early interventions. This is not just about managing costs. It is about delivering care that reflects the realities our members face every day.
Tackling the health access gap
Climate change disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. Poorer regions, rural areas, and underserved populations bear the brunt of health crises driven by environmental stress. Within our regulatory framework, we support our members through targeted corporate social initiatives that aim to bridge access gaps, providing wellness screenings, lifestyle support, and access to cost-effective care through our designated provider networks.
As we advance, broader systemic change is needed. We support reforms that promote proactive outreach in vulnerable communities and drive social and environmental change across the entire healthcare value chain. Without this, climate change will continue to widen the access and outcomes gap and will deepen existing health inequalities.
Technology as a catalyst
Technology is central to building a climate-resilient healthcare model as it enables virtual consultations, digital claims, and communication tools that reduce paper usage and travel, thereby boosting both efficiency and environmental sustainability. Digital transformation and innovation play a dual role in our strategy. On one hand it reduces our operational footprint through virtual consultations, electronic claims and digital engagement channels, and on the other, it improves disease management.
We are also piloting AI-powered care management tools that help monitor and manage conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cataracts. These tools can flag early warning signs and recommend timely interventions, particularly for illnesses exacerbated by climate impacts.
Operationally, we've introduced WhatsApp-based support, enhanced the Medshield App, and rolled out hyper-automation in credit control and claims processing. These steps improve the member experience and make our operations leaner and greener.
Building for resilience and long-term health
As we integrate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles into our operations, from benefit design to supplier selection, we are guided by a simple truth: healthier environments lead to healthier people. And healthier people strengthen and sustain medical schemes.
Yet across the industry, ESG is still too often treated as a compliance checklist. Regulatory barriers and the lack of a system-wide preventive care strategy have slowed meaningful progress. At Medshield, 2025 marks our first full year of ESG implementation. While we are still early in this journey, we believe small, smart actions, such as going paperless, digitising care, and enhancing wellness programmes, can drive meaningful change.
Adapt or fall behind
Climate change is not a future threat; it is a present and growing health crisis. Medical schemes have a choice: evolve or be left behind. At Medshield, we are taking action because in a warming world, protecting health is no longer optional. It's essential.
A call to collaborate on systemic reform
The health effects of climate change are real, rising, and unevenly distributed. The question facing us all, regulators, medical schemes, and policymakers, is whether we will adapt in time. Medical schemes can and should be part of the solution. However, we need a regulatory framework that empowers us to prevent, innovate, and act before climate-related illnesses become a national health emergency. At Medshield, we are committed to collaborating with regulators and public stakeholders alike to develop a healthcare system that is fit for the future - resilient, equitable, and responsive to the realities of a changing climate.
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