BizTrends | Discovery Health members live longer, healthier lives, finds HealthReport2026
Discovery Health CEO Dr Ron Whelan says that the progress the scheme made was not by accident.
“They reflect deliberate action across the system — earlier diagnosis, better clinical pathways, and focused support encouraging members to take control of their health,” he said at the report's launch in Sandton, Johannesburg.
“When the right care and the right behaviours come together, outcomes improve significantly.”
Prevention is better than cure
The medical scheme takes the saying “prevention is better than cure” to, well, heart.
Discovery Health refers to a “prevention dividend,” shifting its focus from simply treating illnesses to proactively preventing health complications.
This involves encouraging members to adopt healthier behaviours now to help prevent future ailments.
“We have long understood the importance of prevention,” said Whelan.
“What has changed is our ability to deliver it with precision and personalisation.
“Advances in data and technology enable us to guide each member towards the right actions at the right time — and that is what is materially improving outcomes.”
Early intervention is nowhere as prevalent as it is with the scheme's progress in improving cancer outcomes for its members.
Major wins in cancer outcomes
Discovery has made significant strides for 120,000 oncology-registered members between 2010 and 2025, dropping the mortality rate by 48% and increasing their life expectancy by 7.1 years.
“Earlier detection and better therapies are improving cancer outcomes in a way we have not seen before,” says Whelan.
“The focus is to continue advancing cancer care while ensuring long-term sustainability of access.”
At Discovery, it pays to intervene early, even if it covers 93% of all oncology costs, as the average annual cost for a metastatic diagnosis is R131,000, 2.8 times the cost of an early-stage diagnosis.
“Detecting these cancers early has a dramatic impact on survival rates across the scheme, and that's why the scheme invests in the screening activities; that's why we invest in the behavioural change programmes to drive uptake in screening activities,” says Whelan.
The report finds that across major cancer types — breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer — regular cancer screening increased the likelihood of early-stage diagnosis by 19%.
Leading treatment options
Beyond early detection, the scheme is also improving treatment for its oncology programme members, as a growing share are now receiving leading cancer care options, including biological and immunological therapies.
Routine chemotherapy — used in 63% of cases and accounting for 42% of spend — may have been the dominant treatment in 2009, but by 2025, as newer treatments became available, chemo accounted for 42% of cases and just 12% of spend.
The report finds that in the last five years, oncology costs have risen by 48% per life per month, reflecting the growing use of these therapies.
Melanoma costs have accelerated significantly, driven by high-cost innovative drugs such as Keytruda.
Breast cancer costs have risen more slowly than those of healthy members, helped by generic alternatives to therapies such as Herceptin.
“You can see the investment that the scheme has made in these advanced mineralogical and biological treatments, and these are partly contributing to the increase in your life expectancy across the scheme,” remarks Whelan.
Discovery Health's improvements for its members with cancer indicate that not only can one survive, but also thrive and live well after diagnosis.
