Western Cape health department launches pilot to reward healthy habits
The Western Cape health department in South Africa has launched a pilot program called WOWRewards to incentivize healthy lifestyle choices. Participants can earn food vouchers for activities like vaccinating children or exercising, with the goal of improving public health and reducing long-term healthcare costs.
Why it matters
This initiative represents a shift toward behavioral economics in public health, using private-sector incentive models to address systemic health challenges.
The Western Cape health department is trialling an incentive scheme that will reward participants for healthy choices such as vaccinating their children or taking up regular exercise.
The pilot programme, launched at the weekend in Mitchells Plain, draws on South African private sector experience and public sector programmes in other countries, such as Brazil’s Bolsa Família . Health and life insurer Discovery pioneered the behavioural science programme Vitality, which has been shown to cut healthcare costs by rewarding healthy lifestyle choices. Bolsa familia provides conditional cash transfers to poor families that require them to enrol their children in school and ensure they are up to date with their immunisations.
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