Insurtech firm responds to health issues associated with prolonged hours of gaming amid the rise of mobile sports in Indonesia

igloo dana gamers insurance partnership
  • Indonesia’s gaming market is the 16th largest in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia accounting for USD $1.92-B of the region’s total sales in 2021
  • Unfortunately, the rise of mobile gaming in Indonesia also brings serious health concerns brought about by extended periods of gaming, prompting insurtech firms to take action
  • Recognizing the value it brings to the gaming industry, Insurance Asia Awards 2022 recently named Igloo’s Gamers’ Protection product as “Product of the Year”

JAKARTA, 14 SEPTEMBER 2022 — Hailed as the largest gaming market in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is home to 43% of the total pool of professional esports players in the world. With the government in support of the development of the local gaming industry, the gaming hotspot is positioned to attract more investments in the coming years. Just recently, Indonesia was chosen as the next host for the world-renowned M4 World Championships in 2023.

Unfortunately, the increased popularity of mobile sports in the country also brings health issues associated with prolonged hours of gaming. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently started recognizing Video Game Addiction as an illness that needs to be addressed with treatment. These developments prompt insurtechs to take action.

Igloo partnered with Indonesia’s leading e-wallet DANA to facilitate the first Gamers’ insurance product in the country. Developed to protect the gaming community, the product currently covers heart attacks and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTR) for IDR 1,000. Users can purchase the protection on the DANA app and select from plans starting from as low as Rp1,000 and up to a maximum benefit of Rp1,000,000 for cardiac arrest or carpal tunnel syndrome diseases.

Recognizing the value it brings to the community, Insurance Asia Awards recently named Igloo’s Gamers’ protection “Product of the Year”.

“Indonesians have found joy in mobile gaming with 79% of the population playing an average of 8.5 hours a week,” shared Amitabh Singh, Regional Head, Intermediary Platform Services. “As mobile sports continue to gain more traction in the country, we also see the need to address the serious health concerns it comes with.”

In July 2021, well-respected Indonesian Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) player Tuturu surprised the gaming community when he announced his early retirement due to a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome, a disease that causes numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand and forearm.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is just one of the serious health issues that gamers are susceptible to. According to Chuck Tholl, a research associate at the German Sport University of Cologne, professional gamers perform as much as 400 actions per minute which range from movements like mouse clicks and keystrokes that place a physical load on their fingers, wrist, neck, back, and lower arms. Over time, these repeated movements may lead to a variety of ailments like muscle weakness, tendinopathy, nerve compression, and lower back pain.

In Indonesia, the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome can be as high as 150 cases per 1000 people per year while with a prevalence of 500 per 1,000 people in high-risk groups.

As most of these ailments are chronic and harder to detect, professional gamers like Tuturu often continue to play unaware that they already have underlying injuries. In the worst cases, reports also show that extended periods of gaming may lead to fatal heart attacks.

“This recognition supports our commitment to making insurance more accessible across all the segments we serve,” shared Raunak Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO at Igloo. “As we carry our mission, we will continue to work with our partners to identify the current challenges consumers face and co-create innovative insurance solutions to address these.”

Learn more about Igloo’s award-winning Gamer’s Protection Insurance.

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About Igloo

Igloo is the first full-stack insurtech firm to emerge from Singapore. It has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia and tech centers in China and India. With a mission of making insurance accessible for all, the firm leverages big data, real-time risk assessment, and end-to-end automated claims management to create B2B2C insurance solutions for platform companies and insurance companies. Igloo’s insurance solutions enable companies to eliminate their exposure to operational risk, create new revenue streams, and optimize and enhance existing products and services. Igloo has partnered with over 50 well-known brand names across the markets in various verticals, including insurance, telecommunications, e-commerce, hospitality, health tech and financial services.

For more information, please visit https://iglooinsure.com/.

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