Manulife Vietnam has announced the launch of its ‘Bridge the Gap’ campaign to raise awareness of the insurance protection gap.

The insurance protection gap - the difference between the resources a person needs and the resources he/she has available in the event of an unfortunate event occurring - is a growing problem globally, one that affects emerging, as well as developed, nations.

Throughout the campaign, the insurer will provide a series of educational materials including articles, videos and minigames on social media to help increase awareness of the insurance protection gap and the importance of having adequate life insurance coverage.

According to a report from Swiss Re, the mortality protection gap across all Asia-Pacific countries was at US$83 trillion in 2019.

In Viet Nam, only 11 per cent of the population had life insurance in 2021. The life insurance penetration rate by GDP is also low, accounting for only about 2.47 per cent of total GDP in 2021. At the same time, household out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure accounted for about 43 per cent of total health costs, twice that recommended by the World Health Organisation.

“The large protection gap indicates that insurance and financial protection solutions are not yet top-of-mind priorities for the Vietnamese people. However, it is clear that awareness around the importance of such protection is increasing, especially due to the pandemic. This is an opportunity for life insurers to increase their efforts to improve financial literacy so that customers can have the confidence to make the right financial decisions,” said Sang Lee, CEO of Manulife Vietnam.

“The key to bridging the existing protection gap is to design products that meet customer expectations. As one of the leading life insurers in Viet Nam, Manulife is committed to providing best-in-class insurance products and services to help protect the people of Viet Nam,” said Phung Ba Khang, Chief Product & Health Officer for Manulife Vietnam. — VNS