17 September 2018 - Johannesburg – Discovery today announced that former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron will be part of the international speaker line-up at the Discovery Leadership Summit in November this year. The ninth Discovery Leadership Summit will take place on 1 November 2018.

This iconic event is designed as a global platform that brings together local and international thought leaders and inspirational visionaries who are shaping leadership conversations today. The summit facilitates the sharing of thought-provoking intellectual capital for better leadership in business, government and civil society.

“We are honoured to host a panel of eminent speakers, including David Cameron, at this year’s Discovery Leadership Summit. We look forward to learning from his views on global politics and leadership, and from all our speakers as a whole,” saysAdrian Gore, Discovery Group Chief Executive. “The potential of excellent leadership to uplift humanity remains top of mind in every society. At Discovery, we value every opportunity to encourage dialogue on this exciting front. It is our hope that this year’s Summit will contribute to building a stronger South Africa and global society as a whole.”

Discovery Leadership Summit speakers include foremost minds in the fields of leadership, civil society, business, economics, science, health and wellness, the media and more. Open to the general public, the Discovery Leadership Summit provides an invaluable opportunity to spend a day alongside global giants, who are challenged to think beyond the conventional and to share ground-breaking ideas.

This year’s distinguished speaker line-up also includes:

• Lord Jim O’Neill, a celebrated British economist, author and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He serves as a visiting research fellow at Bruegel, a European think tank for international economics, and is one of the founding trustees and president of SHINE, a UK-based educational charity. In 2011, he was included in The 50 Most Influential ranking by Bloomberg Markets.
• Prof Clayton Christenson, an American academic and business consultant who currently serves as the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School of Harvard University. Founder of the non-profit, non-partisan think tank, Clayton Christensen Institute, he is regarded as one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth. He is also an established entrepreneur, having started successful enterprises, including CPS Technologies; innovation consulting firm, Innosight; and investment firm, Rose Park Advisors.
• Efosa Ojomo, an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School and a research fellow at the Forum for Growth and Innovation at the Clayton Christensen Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to improving the world through disruptive innovation.
• Caroline Webb, a management consultant, economist and renowned leadership coach. She has worked alongside organisations across the globe to assist their employees in increasing productivity, energy and success – first as a partner at McKinsey & Company, where she continues to serve as a senior advisor, and now as CEO of her own firm, Sevenshift.

More local and international speakers will be added to this line-up and will be announced in the near future.

Past Discovery Leadership Summits cement calibre of top-class speakers

Previous speakers at the Discovery Leadership Summit have offered audience members, and the media at large, extraordinary perspectives.

Speakers have included the likes of founder of the Huffington Post and ThriveGlobal - Arianna Huffington, General Electric Chairman and CEO - Jack Welch, Harvard historian and economist - Niall Ferguson, Harvard Business School economist, researcher and author - Professor Michael Porter, former US Vice President and environmentalist - Al Gore, former South African Minister of Finance - Pravin Gordhan, global philanthropist, entrepreneur and investor - Sir Richard Branson, best-selling author and journalist - Malcolm Gladwell, CEO of the ABSA group - Maria Ramos, celebrated sportsman, entrepreneur and founder of UNICEF 7 Fund for Children - David Beckham – to name but a few.

“It is inspiring to have seen the Discovery Leadership Summit evolve into a sought-after and respected platform where new ideas and approaches to bettering our world are shared. As always, I am honoured to attend this years’ event and gain new perspectives,” concludes Gore.

Notes to the editor:

• Discovery is currently confirming further speakers taking part in the 2018 Summit. These speakers will soon be announced.

The one-day event includes local and international speakers and panel discussions,and will run from 08:30 to 17:00.

Tickets for the Summit can be purchased at www.discoveryleadershipsummit2018.co.za

More information is available at www.discoveryleadershipsummit2018.co.za

Discovery Vitality and parkrun celebrate their fifth anniversary.

June is full of excuses to start running your way to youthfulness and great health. With World Running Day on the 6^th, it is also Youth Month and five years that Discovery Vitality has been a headline sponsor of parkrun SA.

Over the past five years the number of Vitality members signing up for parkruns has continued to grow, and between 2013 and 2017 Discovery Vitality members ran 9.9 million kilometers at parkruns around the country.

“Our aim of the partnership with parkrun is to build healthier communities one weekend run at a time. Running does wonders in improving not only physical wellbeing, but also mental wellbeing. We at Vitality have seen how effective running is as a stepping stone to other healthy lifestyle behaviour changes, both at an individual and at a community level," says Dr Craig Nossel, head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery Vitality.

A recent paper titled Running as a Key Lifestyle Medicine for Longevity indicates that runners have a 30%-50% reduced risk of cancer related mortality, and a 45%-70% lower risk of cardiovascular related mortality, compared to non-runners.

Here are five reasons why running is great for you:

• 1.Runners live longer: The study found that after adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, socioeconomic variables, body mass index, and other types of physical activity, runners have 25% to 40% lower risk over non-runners of death by any cause.
• 2.Runners are far less at risk of cancer and heart disease: Those who run regularly have a 30% to 50% reduced risk of cancer-related mortality, and a 45% to 70% lower risk of death related to cardiovascular disease (CVD), compared to non-runners. If all non-runners became runners in this population, 16% of deaths by any cause and 25% of CVD mortality deaths would be prevented in the context of population-mortality burden.
• 3.Running is also good for your mental health: There's additional evidence that running can protect against mortality resulting from neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Physical activity has been found to improve cognitive function and reduce depressive symptoms, potentially lowering mortality related to some neurological or psychiatric conditions.
• 4.It's better than other sports at keeping you slim: Running may confer superior benefits over other types of vigorous-intensity physical activity, since it is more strongly associated with lower body weights and smaller waist circumferences.
• 5.Runners tend to practice other healthy habits: Runners also tend to engage in other healthy behaviours that contribute to their increased longevity, such as maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, and consuming light-to moderate amounts of alcohol.

Mother of four, grandmother of five and Discovery member Dierdre Larkin, 85 is an avid runner and believes running is not only great for her health, but keeps her younger. She started running at the age of 78 and hasn’t stopped. “Running makes me feel excited and happy. It takes me several hours after a 10 or 21 km race to recover from a most enjoyable 'Runner's High'. And in the last 15 years I have only visited my doctor for relief from the flu. I go annually for check-ups and X-rays, but all seems ok so far,” Larkin added.

“Running is cost effective and is accessible to people of all ages and fitness levels and a great way to work your heart and leg muscles. All you need is a comfortable pair of running shoes and you are good to go. We encourage everyone to run their way to good health and if you are a Vitality member, you can get rewarded for it every week with Vitality Active Rewards, Families in and around the Delta Park area can join us for a 5^th birthday celebration run on Saturday June 16^th at 08:00,” concluded Nossel.

So don’t you think it’s time you and your family got in on the parkrun action? It’s simple, just find an event near you, sign up for parkrun, link your profile and get running! Be one of 50 000 people running or walking parkrun each Saturday morning at 143 events around the country. Vitality members earn up to 300 Vitality points for completing a parkrun and scanning their barcode at the finish line.

It is estimated that nearly half (48.7%) of South Africans with hypertension have never been screened and therefore remain undiagnosed and unaware of their increased risk for heart disease and strokes. Similarly, estimates indicate that around 1.58 million South Africans have undiagnosed diabetes that, if left untreated, can lead to nerve and kidney damage as well as a number of other equally concerning complications.

“If a chronic illness is picked up early, people can avoid the devastating effects of an unchecked illness down the line. People need to be empowered to get an insight into their personal health status. This is an important step to knowing and managing ones health” said head of Vitality Wellness Dr Craig Nossel.

Discovery offers the Vitality Health Check to its members which is a simple and convenient set of the most essential health screening tests – these include measuring blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels, determining your weight status, and signing a non-smoker’s declaration. Vitality Health Checks can be done at any pharmacy in the Vitality Wellness Network, at a Vitality Wellness Centre, at a Discovery Wellness Day or at a Discovery Store. To be able to manage your health effectively it is important to have these screenings at least annually and then adopt healthy behaviours to keep your measurements within the healthy ranges. Being aware of your health status better equips you to take the necessary steps to live a healthier lifestyle. To expand our reach and make the Vitality Health Check available to more South Africans Discovery has launched Vitality Move. Vitality Move is free to join for members of selected schemes administered by Discovery Health and rewards you for knowing your numbers by giving you a chance to win shopping rewards.

“We have learnt that simply educating people about the importance of screening and adopting healthy behaviours is not enough to shift these complex habits, innovative solutions are needed to shift the dial on positive health behaviour change. An annual Vitality Health Check is an opportunity for our members to understand their health and be empowered to make necessary changes if needed. We have made health screening easily accessible to our members by offering the Vitality Health Check at a wide network of healthcare providers and have removed the cost barrier by ensuring that the test comes at no cost to the member. Vitality Move will encourage more people to go for health screening tests because they are rewarded simply for doing so,” said head of Vitality Wellness Dr Craig Nossel.

In addition to screening, good nutrition and being physically active are both critical components to achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Vitality Move supports this by encouraging members to improve their eating habits by rewarding them for buying healthy foods. As part of Vitality’s HealthyFood benefit, which rewards members for buying HealthyFood items, members who activated Vitality Move stand a chance to win back their spend on HealthyFood items simply by swiping their Smart Shopper card at Pick n Pay each time they shop.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to make the healthy choice the easy choice and improve access to cost-effective healthier products and believe Vitality Move is a positive step towards helping customers make healthier choices. We stock over 18 000 Vitality HealthyFood items so customers have a really wide range of healthy foods to choose from. We think this programme will make a positive impact on our customers’ lives and reward them for it at the same time,” said John Bradshaw, Head of Marketing, Pick n Pay.

By upgrading Vitality Move for just R35 a month, members will get access to even more benefits and rewards, such as up to R100 off their monthly gym fees at Virgin Active or Planet Fitness, up to R100 in Pick n Pay shopping rewards every month, and up to R100 off movie tickets every month at Ster-Kinekor. Apart from going for their Vitality Health Check, members can boost their rewards by getting their weight in a healthy range and by getting active.

“Our data has proven that rewards are an effective driver of behaviour change – we have seen screening rates triple, and physical activity and purchases of healthy foods increase. These are the results of engaged members who have seen the value and rewards of a healthier lifestyle with Vitality. With the rising trend in obesity and other lifestyle-related diseases, we are hoping to see more people doing their health screenings and filling their trollies with healthier options in order to start managing their health,” concluded Dr Nossel.

Joining Vitality Move is free and simple. Members of qualifying Discovery Health schemes can join Vitality Move by registering their Pick n Pay Smart Shopper card and linking it to Vitality Move by dialling *120*6683# (*120*MOVE#) and following the prompts.

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Note to editors:

Vitality Move is available to all schemes administered by Discovery Health except Glencore.