Earlier this year, Allianz PNB Life launched Caffeine Boost, a podcast that provides light and relatable discussions on finance, investment, health, and other topics that have become relevant to surviving the new normal.

For Caffeine Boost’s most recent episode, “Why We Need to Rethink Universal Healthcare in Our Communities”, the show featured digital health care and health finance expert Edward Booty, the founder and CEO of Reach52, The organization is a social enterprise that seeks to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare to rural communities.

Prior to founding Reach52 in 2016, Booty worked for the UK National Health Service (NHS), one of the world’s largest consulting organizations. He has worked extensively in digital healthcare, patient access, and insurance and health financing in Europe and now in Asia’s emerging markets.

Asked about the origin of Reach52, Booty explained that the 52 stands for the 52 percent who don’t have access to healthcare.

“It’s about the 52 percent of Asia who live in rural areas,” he said, adding that “the core of what we do is to build a number of offline Android apps that will allow women in disconnected communities, with knowledge and training, one or two per barangay, to be health workers.”

Booty pointed out that insurance companies can help bridge the healthcare protection gap.

“Insurance has a huge role to play within the global healthcare development space,” he said.

He emphasized that the private sector, “should work collaboratively with the government to achieve better health outcomes for all and obviously have a sustainable business behind it.”

Caffeine Boost started as an internal initiative for the financial advisors of Allianz PNB Life.  Conceptualized by insurance industry experts and the podcast’s host, Josel Gaston, the podcast also features finance industry professionals Chris Cabognason, Emma Carranza, and Candice Veloso.

After covering topics such as building one’s online presence, health needs planning, equity, and other locally available funds, mental health issues, and strong women in the time of the pandemic, the podcast has started to draw a following from outside the organization.

“We’re now on our eighth episode, and we’d like to invite everyone to join us as we tackle different topics concerning health and insurance. We were surprised to learn that there are a lot of auditory learners among Filipinos,” Gaston related.