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Meet The Team

Board of Trustees

Dr Ndahafa Nghifindaka

Chairperson

Denise Billy

Deputy Chairperson

Linda Uulenga

Trustee

Paulus Egodhi

Trustee

Valeria Muchero

Principal Officer

Company
Medical Aid Plans
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Administrative Office

Unit 1 House 49 Feld Street,  Windhoek Namibia 

T +264 833 342 790 / +264 833 342 791
F +264 833 342 809

Find us at

admin@heritagehealth-namibia.com

www.heritagehealth-namibia.com

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About Us
Comprehensive Plans
Administrative Office

Unit 1 House 49 Feld Street,  Windhoek Namibia 

T +264 833 342 790          +264 833 342 791
F +264 833 342 809

Find Us

admin@heritagehealth-namibia.com

www.heritagehealth-namibia.com

  • Copyright @2022 All Rights Reserved
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Road Safety Tips

As the holiday season draws near, road safety should always be our top focus when driving. Below are some Road Safety tips:

  1. Obey the rules of the road and carry your driver’s license with you.
  2. Make sure that your vehicle is in a roadworthy condition before departure. All lights and indicators, windscreens, windscreen wipers, brakes, steering, shock absorbers, exhaust system and tyres should be carefully examined for any defects.
  3. Do not overload.
  4. Have a good rest before you embark on your journey
  5. Take stretch breaks every 2 hours or 200km. Rest, continue once well-rested.
  6. Do not drink and drive
  7. Be visible – drive with your lights on
  8. Headlights should be dipped well before an approaching vehicle is within the range of the main beam.
  9. Always wear your seat belt and ensure that everyone in the car is wearing theirs.

 

  1. Always stay within the speed limit
  2. Only overtake when it is safe to do so
  3. Expect others to not be as obedient to the law as yourself
  4. Avoid distractions on the road such as texting, conversations on cellular phones etc.
  5. Be courteous towards fellow road users – keep your temper and resist the temptation to retaliate
  6. Know your emergency numbers
  7. Keep your spare tyre maintained. Do not neglect your spare when you’re checking your tyres – it needs to be examined just as thoroughly

Emergency numbers:

E-Med Rescue 24     :             081924 / 083924

                                                  061 411 600

                                                  Toll Free 924

MVA                           :             Toll free   9682

Why prevention is better than cure

It is always better to be safe about things than to be sorry later. Heritage health offers wellness
benefits for members for early detection of medical health issues. To list a few:

Blood sugar test

Blood pressure test

Cholesterol test

Pap Smear

Free Prostate Specific Antigen

View full wellness benefits in the product brochure 2022.

product brochure
Sometimes, we just need a little reminder of how to get our energy back — especially in the deepest parts of winter when it’s cold, dark, and just plain miserable. For some people, it’s getting back into a routine; other people may need more alone time that’s less structured to feel energized. Whatever it is that brings you energy, you’ll find it also brings along with it a dose of motivation, too. Ideas and actions they take and recommend for clients looking to beat the winter doldrums.
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Soak Up Natural Vitamin D

Going outside for a walk will help you reset your mind and keep you active during the day. Getting outside in the sunlight will also expose you to vitamin D, which is a must for your bones.

Give Prebiotic Fibers a Try

It is highly recommended people incorporate gut-healthy prebiotic fibers into their diet. Prebiotics are the fuel for the beneficial bacteria in your gut, and it is known that our gut and brain are directly connected and have a great impact on each other. Some simple ways to include prebiotic fibers into your diet can include consuming cooked and then cooled — potatoes and grains, adding legumes to winter dishes such as lupin beans, or even simply adding a scoop of prebiotic fiber powder to a warm bowl of oatmeal or pancakes.

Tackle Exercise Early

Exercising early in the morning can help to increase energy levels throughout the day. If you find yourself scrambling to put it all together in the morning, consider setting out your exercise clothes the evening prior so that you are more apt to squeeze them in. Regular exercise also promotes more restful nighttime sleep so that you feel more energetic during the day — a win-win.”  

Get Out in Nature

Walking has been shown to be valuable in improving mental health, particularly depression, so it is important to try and walk daily. When you do go for a walk, set your focus on just the experience of walking and your surroundings. For example your feet on the ground, the fresh air, sunshine, birds singing, etc. Be mindful, embrace each step and you will be sure to feel rejuvenated afterwards! 

Make “You Time” a Priority

Make yourself a priority each day to do something that fills you up. That will look different for everybody, but it could be reading in the morning before kids wake up, going for a walk after school drop-off, using time on your lunch break to meditate. We know everyone doesn’t have a lot of time, but carve out longer periods when you can.

Stay Regular

Stay away from all of the traditional comfort foods like pie or candy that might make you feel good at the moment but will inevitably make it hard for you to get motivated later. Focus on getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet as constipation and irregularity will quite literally make you feel heavier, weighted down, and bloated, thus, less energetic. Keep moving, stay hydrated, and stay regular!

Eat Breakfast

Start the day with a healthy breakfast. When you eat a carbohydrate-rich breakfast, your body releases insulin and stimulates your brain to release serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter that helps counter feelings of depression. A healthy breakfast also gives you energy to face the day. 

Coping with Burnout

As the year is about to end, it’s only natural to feel burnout and fatigue. Fatigue is a major symptom of burnout and can affect all areas of your life. You might feel like sleeping all the time or find that even simple tasks take longer to complete. Being burned out means feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. If excessive stress feels like you’re drowning in responsibilities, burnout is a sense of being all dried up.

How to cope with burnout and fatigue:

  1. Make enough time for restful sleep.
  2. Spend time with loved ones, but don’t overdo it — alone time is important, too.
  3. Try to get some physical activity each day.
  4. Eat nutritious meals and stay hydrated.
  5. Try meditation, yoga, or other mindfulness practices for improved relaxation.

The importance of flu vaccinations

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with circulating influenza viruses.

Seasonal flu vaccines are designed to protect against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. The protect against four different flu viruses: an influenza A(H1N1) virus, an influenza A(H3N2) virus, and two influenza B viruses.

A flu vaccine is needed every year for two reasons. First, a person’s immune protection from vaccination declines over time, so an annual flu vaccine is needed for optimal protection. Second, because flu viruses are constantly changing, the composition of flu vaccines is reviewed annually, and vaccines are updated to protect against the viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming flu season. For the best protection, everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated annually.

Heritage health supports Covid-19 and flu vaccinations. View full benefits in the product brochure 2022.

Pregnancy and the process of becoming a mother is a crucial and memorable moment in one’s life. A healthy, balanced diet is essential for both the duration of breastfeeding and throughout pregnancy. Women will need a lot more essential nutrients during pregnancy and lactation, notably omega-3 fatty acids because these nutrients deplete more quickly during these times.  Foods such as fish, spinach, broccoli, and okra are high in omega 3.

However, the recommended daily intake for pregnant women is between 450 and 650 mg, of which 220 to 300 mg are docosahexaenoic acid. Because human breast milk provides the baby with the essential Omega-3s for its early development, pregnant women and breastfeeding moms are both at risk for developing an Omega-3 deficiency. Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are practically left with no choice but to supplement with high-grade marine Omega-3 fatty acids to avoid becoming Omega-3 deficient.

Heritage Health offers Maternity and Wellness Benefits which includes Baby Immunisation.

For more details view the product brochure.

The Importance of Hydration in the Summer: Drink Up!

Most of the human body, in fact 70% consists of water, which has an impact on every bodily process.

The heat will only increase now that summer is here. For your health, to prevent any symptoms of dehydration it is crucial to stay hydrated.

For a healthy amount of hydration, many people think eight glasses of water a day is the norm. However, you should think about consuming at least 12 to 15 glasses each day in the summer, particularly if you are active and spend a lot of time outside. For people exercising outdoors throughout the summertime, such as runners and athletes, make sure to always keep a water bottle on you, and have access to a water source for refills.

Dehydration causes excessive weariness, haziness, and dark urine as warning signs from the body. Get a glass of cold water as soon as you can if you are feeling any of these symptoms. Water will make you feel healthier and more alert right away. Dehydration may be more difficult to spot in circumstances, such as when swimming or at the beach, where you are submerged in water. Being submerged in water doesn’t hydrate you. To prevent dehydration, you must continue to consume fresh water.

Why should you go for regular screenings?

Some risk factors for high blood pressure include drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Neglecting a healthy diet, having diabetes or kidney disease, being overweight or obese and smoking of cigarettes. It is possible to have high blood pressure without these risk factors. Most doctors recommend checking your blood pressure at least once a year if your reading is normal, or 120/80. However, you will need to be tested more often if your blood pressure is higher than that. Certain people are at greater risk for having high cholesterol levels. A routine cholesterol screening involves a simple blood test. Your doctor uses these numbers:

200 mg/dL or less – ideal

200-239 mg/dL – borderline

240 mg/dL and above – high risk

Along with your age, weight, family history, and other health issues, to determine if you should make certain lifestyle and diet changes to lower cholesterol or if you need medication.

BMI stands for Body Mass Index, and it is one of the most-used metrics in health. This metric is used by health professionals to help decide if a person is underweight, a healthy weight or overweight. So, how can we calculate this ratio and why is BMI important?

To measure your BMI, you divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared, for example, X (kg)/X (m2) = X BMI. Or, if imperial is your style, you can use this formula:

BMI = weight (lb.) / [height (in) x height (in)] x 703

Knowing your BMI, you will be able to say which category you fit into and its potential impact on your overall health. Underweight: BMI less than 18.5, Healthy weight: BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, Overweight: BMI between 25 and 29.9 and Obese: BMI of 30+

A high BMI can be a risk factor in various conditions, such as: Diabetes, heart problems, stroke, muscular-skeletal disorders, cancer and other.

 

Wellness screenings are paid for on all plans. Refer to the product brochure under the wellness section for more details.

What Is Mental Illness?

Mental Illnesses are brain-based conditions that affect thinking, emotions, and behaviors. Since we all have brains – having some kind of mental health problem during your life is really common.

For people who have mental illnesses, their brains have changed in a way in which they are unable to think, feel, or act in ways they want to. For some, this means experiencing extreme and unexpected changes in mood – like feeling more sad or worried than normal. For others, it means not being able to think clearly, not being able to communicate with someone who is talking to them, or having bizarre thoughts to help explain weird feelings they are having.

There are more than 200 classified forms of mental illness. Some of the more common disorders are depression, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. Symptoms may include changes in mood, personality, personal habits and/or social withdrawal.

Heritage health offers mental health benefits for all members in need. View full benefits in the product brochure 2022.

Make exercise a daily habit – 10 tips

Did you know that you can save on your benefit as well as your pocket by making use of generic medication instead of branded?  Many may not know the difference between the two, let us explain it to you!

Piece your workout together

You don’t need to get all your exercise at one time. Ten minutes morning, noon and night can give much of the same benefit as 30 minutes all at once.

Exercise with a friend

Finding a workout partner can help keep you on track and motivate you to get out the door.

Keep it brisk

When you walk, make it brisk, since this may help control weight better than walking at a leisurely pace. What is brisk enough? Walk as though you are meeting someone for lunch and you are a little late.

Move your feet before you ea

Hit the gym or go for a 20-minute walk with coworkers, and have lunch afterwards.

Try a pedometer

Step-counters (pedometers) are an easy, inexpensive way to motivate yourself to be active. Work up to 10,000 steps per day.

Turn off the TV, computer, and smart phone

Cutting back on screen time is a great way to curb your “sit time.” Move around instead, by visiting the gym or even cleaning the house.

Turn sit time into fit time

Try to combine cardiovascular exercise with a sedentary activity that you already do. For example, try doing simple exercises while watching TV, or set a reminder at work to get up and walk a few minutes every hour.

Sign up for a class

Check out the fitness course schedule at your local gym or community center, or the dance or yoga class schedule at a nearby studio. You may find that having the structure of a class helps you learn a new activity and keeps you on track.

Plan exercise into your day

Set aside a specific time in your schedule to exercise and put it in your planner.

Reward yourself

Set short-term goals—and reward yourself for achieving them. Try targeting a specific event, such as a road race or a walk-for-charity, to participate in—this can help keep you motivated.

Facts about dental and oral health

  • between 60 and 90 percent of school children have at least one dental cavity
  • nearly 100 percent of adults have at least one dental cavity
  • between 15 and 20 percent of adults ages 35 to 44 have severe gum disease
  • about 30 percent of people around the world ages 65 to 74 don’t have any natural teeth left
  • in most countries, out of every 100,000 people, there are between 1 and 10 cases of oral cancer
  • the burden of oral disease is much higher in poor or disadvantaged population groups
  • brushing your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day
  •  flossing your teeth at least once a day
  •  decreasing your intake of sugar
  • eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables
  • avoiding tobacco products
  • drinking fluoridated water
  • seeking professional dental care

Generic versus Branded medications

Did you know that you can save on your benefit as well as your pocket by making use of generic medication instead of branded?  Many may not know the difference between the two, let us explain it to you!

Generic medications

go through testing for quality, strength, purity, and potency to show effectiveness before approval by FDA. They must have the same active ingredient and provide the same benefits. There are a few differences, however. Generic and brand medications don’t look the same. Generics may have slightly different inactive ingredients (fillers, binders, flavors, etc.). These don’t affect how the medicine works.

Brand medications

are new discoveries developed through research and clinical trials? New drugs go through years of testing on animals and humans to prove they are safe and effective before they are ready for us to use.

This takes a lot of money so brand companies get patent and exclusivity protection from competition for several years.