From Malkia to Mfalme: Why male-specific conditions deserve equal attention
A woman in hospital.
What you need to know:
- An insurance provider's 'Malkia' product marks a significant shift in Kenya's insurance sector by covering previously excluded women-specific conditions, including cancers, skin conditions, and offering AI-powered pregnancy support.
- The development joins a broader transformation in Kenya's financial sector, where banks are increasingly creating women-focused products.
- Attention must equally be paid to men-specific conditions like prostate cancer.
Earlier this month, the media reported that Britam had unveiled an “affordable female wellness cover” code named Malkia consisting of “affordable premiums and cashback benefits for medical conditions such as breast, cervical and ovarian cancers. The product also covers “skin conditions and AI-powered pregnancy support”.
The first thing to note is the name of the product. Malkia is Kiswahili for queen. The choice of such a name obviously indicates a desire to attract the targeted clients by affirming them through the hortatory labelling of the product to make them feel exquisitely honoured. The same label is used for the women’s national volleyball team Malkia Strikers, suggesting that it is a popular reference.
What is more important, however, is the realisation by this insurer, and others like it, that gender-specific conditions should not be excluded from insurance as has been the case in the past. For eons, insurance companies had a primitive perception that such conditions were expensive, hence unattractive for cover. Excluding them was tantamount to gender-based discrimination determined by inevitable biological factors, principally female reproductive facilities and related medical conditions. For a long time, even maternity was not considered an insurable condition.
Skin conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis, which are covered by the product, are not exclusive to women. However, because of social construction of gender, women have higher propensity to pay more attention to their skin care than men, hence are a ready customer base. One might, however, consider this a case of stereotyping.
Female affair
Of significant note in the cover is the AI-powered pregnancy support, which “provides real-time advice on pregnancy care and mental health support, and (which) remains throughout the journey to motherhood, extending six months after delivery”. This is both sensitive to pregnancy as a gender-specific condition but also an innovative use of modern technology, with potential to save lives and help reduce maternal mortality which remains a scourge in the country, thanks to deficiencies in our health system.
Although Britam conceptualises this product primarily as a relief to women when it says that the cover “stands by (them) through life’s toughest moments, offering peace of mind when it’s needed most”, the fact is that men also stand to gain from it given that motherhood is only an exclusive female affair from a biological perspective but is also a male concern from a social and economic angle. When women take these covers, men stand to be relieved of paying out of pocket for them. Similar relief is inbuilt in the fact that the product provides a last-expense benefit to cater for funeral costs, should the beneficiary die.
Research shows that apart from Britam, other local commercial companies with covers for gynaecological conditions and maternity are Jubilee Insurance, Apollo Investment Company, Cooperative Insurance Company and PACIS. These developments must be seen in the context of increasing transformation in the financial and related markets with regard to the need for gender-responsive products. For instance, the banking industry is in the club of institutions that have come up with tailor-made products for women.
One is the Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, which pioneered in identifying and developing this niche, the aim not only being to generate business but also to empower women economically. Family Bank’s Queen Banking (that word again) seeks to provide affordable products to women entrepreneurs while Cooperative Bank of Kenya also includes financial literacy for informed decision making by women. Others in the league are Equity Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.
But even as the step by Britam is laudable, focus must also be placed on medical conditions specific to, or most prevalent among men. One is cancer of the prostrate. Risks of this condition include age (it is prevalent in men aged 50 and above), race and genealogy (risk is higher among blacks) and genetic changes. To what extent do commercial insurance companies cover this condition? A quick internet search reveals that they provide cover for chronic conditions including cancer but there is little specificity on the types included or excluded.
Providing insurance cover for gender-specific conditions is a step in the right direction. It sends a message of sensitivity to gender differences and the need to ensure equity in access to health care, without discrimination. The implied reduction in financial burden encourages proactive health seeking behaviour, which translates into preventive care, early diagnosis and better management of disease hence potential decrease in morbidity and mortality. Knowledge that one is covered is associated with better mental health in the form of reduced levels of stress, anxiety and fear.
The responsiveness demonstrated by Britam should be expanded. Should it develop a product targeting male-specific conditions, the same will probably be called Mfalme (King)!
The writer is a lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at South Eastern Kenya University ([email protected]).
