FFP credits MOH corporate wellness challenge with boosting staff health programmes

Staff at Food for the Poor (FFP) say taking part in the Ministry of Health (MOH) corporate wellness challenge reinforced workplace health efforts and helped revive programmes that had lost momentum.

Participants said the company already treats health and wellness as a priority, arguing that workers who feel well tend to be happier and more productive. Mention of a formal challenge, they said, was enough to mobilise teams that were already oriented toward healthy living.

One speaker described wellness as a long-standing personal practice and said the competition simply confirmed that approach. Others said the challenge helped staff build new habits and stay more consistent and focused on a healthier routine.

The drive was also credited with breathing new life into FFP’s aerobics programme, which participants said had been fading. That turnaround was singled out as one of the most meaningful outcomes of the exercise.

Interest in losing weight has continued beyond the MOH challenge. The firm’s wellness committee has since launched what it called its “biggest loser” competition, framed around healthy habits, weight loss, and greater awareness of body mass index (BMI).

Speakers also linked wellness to the organisation’s work managing a portfolio of health insurance clients. Wellness, they said, is used as a cost-management tool to reduce expenses while encouraging healthier living among clients and staff alike. Regular initiatives, they argued, remind employees that work life should include collaborative attention to well-being, not only daily tasks.

Looking ahead, participants pressed for a stronger policy push. They want more companies to embed staff wellness and well-being in formal policy, rather than relying on occasional exercise or nutrition sessions or a once-a-year health screening. With clear rules in place, they said, new hires would understand from day one what the company offers and expects on workplace health.