For Immediate Release
September 24, 2018
With photos
Hong Kong — To bolster awareness of heart health, Manulife has once again joined hands with the World Heart Federation (WHF) to promote the World Heart Day through campaigns, programmes and events designed and activated by the company’s offices across the globe.
In Hong Kong, Manulife has organized a series of activities to foster a heart-healthy lifestyle – from getting more active to eating better and knowing the ways to stay healthy. These activities include a forest bathing trip, an Eat Smart cooking class, and a seminar on heart health.
Held on September 29 every year, World Heart Day aims to reduce the harm caused by heart disease and stroke, which claim 17.5 million lives globally each year. In Hong Kong, heart diseases are among the leading causes of death, killing on average 17 people a day in 20171. This year’s World Heart Day asks everyone around the world to commit making small lifestyle changes for the good of their heart health and help others do the same.
Guy Mills, Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong, said, “Manulife is keen to promote heart-healthy lifestyle with a goal of improving the health of our community. While heart disease is epidemic in today’s world, the good news is that the risk can be reduced if we take early action. Through our support to the World Heart Day, we hope to get our community and our employees committed to heathier habits beneficial to our heart.”
Manulife Hong Kong kicked off its World Heart Day engagement programme with a forest bathing trip for employees. Adapted from the Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku”, forest bathing is a slow and mindful wander through the woods that allows people to connect with the natural world, awake their senses, and de-stress from their daily routine – which in turn helps improve heart health.
In collaboration with the Children’s Heart Foundation, Manulife Hong Kong treated children with heart disease and their parents to an Eat Smart cooking class, where they learned family-friendly heart-healthy recipes together. The company also organized a health seminar for its employees, where Janis Chan, a renowned TV host, and Sonia Kong, a Hong Kong beach volleyball player and a registered nurse with experience treating stroke patients, shared healthy lifestyle tips and mindful wellness practices.
With its commitment to fostering health and wellness in the community, Manulife forged a global partnership with WHF in 2017 with joint actions to raise wider awareness towards heart health. The collaborative campaigns between these partners include the World Heart Day and the World Hypertension Day, which takes place on May 17 every year.
Photos:
At the Eat Smart cooking class, Mr. Guy Mills, Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong (first row, fourth from left), makes healthy food together with beneficiaries from the Children’s Heart Foundation.
TV host Janis Chan (second from right) and Hong Kong beach volleyball player and registered nurse Sonia Kong (second from left) share tips for a heart-healthy lifestyle with Manulife Hong Kong employees.
Manulife Hong Kong
Manulife Hong Kong offers a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individual and corporate customers via Manulife (International) Limited, Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited, which are members of the Manulife group of companies.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2017, we had about 35,000 employees, 73,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 26 million customers. As of June 30, 2018, we had over C$1.1 trillion (HK$6,662 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made C$27.6 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.