UAE Health and Wellness Index Surges to Sixth Rank on Global Scale

Once again highlighting its series of achievements and indices geared towards accomplishing the aspirations of the UAE Vision 2021 in order to strengthen its position on the global competitiveness map and take the lead in many international reports and indicators. According to the annual 2019 Cigna Well-Being Survey that indicates an improvement in the overall health and well-being index of the UAE population by 1.4 points over 2018. Ranking above the global average in sixth place with an overall score of 62.9 points, the country shows a strong outlook across five key indices – physical, family, social, financial and work

Heart health has emerged as a key area of concern, identifying a gap in the perception of high blood pressure (HBP) – a pressing concern given its soaring prevalence in the region. The survey reveals that 32 percent of the residents believe that HBP is not curable with lifestyle change

Reinforcing 2018’s findings, the survey points to high levels of stress among the UAE population. Despite an improvement in the overall score when it comes to fighting stress, close to 22 percent of residents still face unmanageable levels of stress

While the social, family and finance indices show improvement, these come at the expense of the physical and work aspects. Respondents consider lack of sleep and poor eating habits as key challenges. 2019 Cigna Well-Being Survey is a call to give priority to the overall wellness and promote awareness of health issues