Women's Day 2015

Wathinta abafazi wathinta imbokodo (You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock)



Female executives at GEMS

On Women's Day 2015 GEMS pays tribute to the courageous and strong women of South Africa who are the pillars of our nation.

Happy Women's Day! Just as you are always there to support those who depend upon you, we at GEMS will always be here for you.

Did you know that ...

1. Women represent 67.4% of the GEMS membership base?
2. A total of 70% of our staff compliment are women and 62.5% of our Executive Committee members are women?
3. More than 65.2% of public servants are women?

Why are more women in government today choosing GEMS to take care of their healthcare needs and those of their families?

At GEMS we believe that representation of women in leadership roles unleashes their talents, bringing powerful and positive change to bear while increasing the likelihood of better outcomes for all concerned.

GEMS continue to make a difference to the people of our nation by actively working towards the creation of a healthier public service. This is particularly true in the case of our female members. We offer a number of excellent benefits specifically for women including breast reductions and contraception. The Scheme also places considerable emphasis on providing young mothers and moms-to-be with support through our antenatal classes and maternity programme.

All female members of GEMS have free access to our Maternity Programme that is specifically designed to provide them with support, education and advice through all the stages of their pregnancy, confinement and postnatal period. The GEMS Maternity Programme, which is headed by registered nursing professionals with specialised midwifery qualifications, has been introduced to ensure that expectant mothers receive high-quality care throughout their pregnancies.

The Scheme has recently increased its emphasis on preventative healthcare initiatives. These have included important healthcare screenings such as breast, cervical, prostate cancers, cholesterol and diabetes. In 2013, the Scheme conducted health screenings at wellness events across most government departments, participated in 6 365 marketing engagements, exhibitions and wellness days as well as seven GEMS days in several provinces.

GEMS has a highly effective HIV/AIDS Disease Management Programme (DMP) for its HIV positive members, which provides them with the support they need to lead a healthy and productive life. By December 2013, 70.4% of beneficiaries who are estimated to be HIV positive were enrolled on the GEMS HIV/AIDS DMP.

The Scheme is currently piloting a workplace-based exercise and lifestyle programme for employees, which will be rolled out throughout the public service to curb the obesity crisis and disease burden resulting from the sedentary lifestyles adopted by so many South Africans.

In terms of improving accessibility, a number of important milestones have been reached. These include the introduction of a new chronic medicine management service to provide members with improved access to medicine while encouraging greater participation from community pharmacies. More than 56% of GEMS beneficiaries on the Chronic Medicine Management Programme have been allocated to a pharmacy of their choice, that is within less than 10 kilometres from their homes. Accessibility to optometry networks have also increased rapidly with 86% of members now located within 10 kilometres or less from an optometry network provider.