Good Health and Well-Being

In the last year, the bank has stepped up its efforts to improve the wellness and health of its employees. These initiatives are already proving their worth by helping employees in areas as wide-ranging as sleep quality, early detection of genetic diseases and mental health.

BBVA has established a set of general principles to fulfill its commitment to the security, health and wellbeing of its professionals. Global guidelines that can be adapted to each one of the countries where it has a presence according to regulations and local needs.

Following the introduction of new ways of working, the bank is rolling out a range of corporate wellness initiatives aimed at caring for employees' physical and emotional health.

The jury of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has selected Katalin Karikó, Robert Langer and Drew Weissman for their contributions to messenger RNA therapeutics and the technology that enables our own cells to produce proteins for the prevention and treatment of disease. The first clinical application of their work was the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

BBVA views the promotion of occupational health and safety as one of the guiding principles and key goals that are addressed through ongoing improvement of working conditions.

‘Vamping’ is a term that comes from the English words ‘vampire’ (vampire, animal active at night) and ‘texting’ (sending messages) and refers to the practice, carried out mostly by teenagers, which consists in making excessive use of electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, consoles... just before going to sleep. As a result, their rest is affected due to the reduction of the necessary hours of sleep and the effects on our body produced by the light from the screens. This phenomenon is causing many young people to suffer from early insomnia.

The coronavirus crisis has made us more aware of how vulnerable we are to unforeseen events. As a result, in the new social context the insurance industry and insurtechs have been driven to strengthen their customer focus, digitisation, health insurance and microinsurance, with innovation at the fore.

The World Health Organization promotes Breast Cancer Day every October 19 to  raise awareness about the commitment of society as a whole to the fight against the most common form of cancer in women. For yet another year, BBVA is organizing a fundraising campaign via Bizum, the leading instant payments solution in Spain, to encourage customer donations in support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer. As an additional gesture of solidarity, this morning, the bank lit up its headquarter buildings in Madrid, La Vela, in pink.

The coronavirus crisis has proven to be a catalyst for workplace flexibility. Companies around the world urgently accelerated their digitization processes in order to first cope with the lockdown measures established in the early days of the pandemic, and going forward to design a new approach to the world of work. If technology served as the primary ally during the initial phase of this transformation, work-life balance is now positioned as the most significant challenge to overcome. BBVA is already preparing for this new reality, evolving its flexible work model, which it implemented two years ago, to cater to the new reality. The bank is responding to important challenges like the use of physical space, goal setting, the new profile of leadership, and employee empowerment and engagement.

Nearly two months after Spain declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus crisis, the population has slowly begun to adapt to the lifting of some lockdown restrictions amid lots of questions and fear of a new outbreak. In an initiative promoted by the BBVA Foundation, Dr. Jordi Vila, the Head of Microbiology Services at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona, gave a videoconference for BBVA employees to answer some of these questions. Among his responses regarding how to return to work in a safe manner, he indicated that “massive testing would be ideal, but it’s impossible from a logistical standpoint,” in his opinion.

Egon Zehnder, a global consulting firm, is holding a round of digital meetings with CEOs of banks around the world to hear about their strategies to navigate the COVID-19 crisis and their insights into unprecedented situation. During a meeting held on April 4, BBVA CEO Onur Genç detailed the Group's priorities in the face of the health emergency caused by COVID-19: safeguarding customer and employee health and continuing to deliver its services and supporting customers.

April 7th is World Health Day, and this year the World Health Organization has decided to call special attention to the essential role of nurses and midwives. Amid a world pandemic with incalculable consequences for humankind, the invaluable contribution these roles play is as apparent as ever.

Each year the International Day Against Breast Cancer is celebrated on October 19. This date serves as a reminder of society’s commitment to fight the most malignant tumor that most frequently strikes the female population. BBVA supports this cause and has launched its “Bonds that Unite” campaign, allowing customers to make donations to the Spanish Association Against Cancer via Bizum. As an additional gesture of solidarity, the bank will illuminate a pink rose on its headquarter buildings in Madrid, Mexico City, and Lima.

BBVA and Jordi Roca, pastry chef at El Celler de Can Roca, have together launched the project ‘El sentido del cacao’ (The Sense of Cocoa), an initiative that aims to raise awareness of the series of conditions affecting the sense of taste and which affect up to 17% of the world's population. This project comes in light of a pioneering investigation based on neuroscience and sensorial management supported by, among other institutions, the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid and IOB Institute of Oncology.

Sixty per cent of Spaniards look for health-related information online, but only one third of themtrust their search results. This figure is in stark contrast with the level of trust that is placed on thepersonal advice provided by health professionals, about 92%. To address this demand for reliableonline information, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and the BBVA Foundation have created PortalCLÍNIC.

Immunotherapies are treatments that aim to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. The strategy has proven quite effective against some tumors – including melanoma or lung cancer – but inefficient against many others. A team headed by ICREA researcher Eduard Batlle and funded by the BBVA Foundation has discovered why and proven that it can also be used against colon cancer.

U.S. researcher James P. Allison has won the BBVA Foundation’s Frontiers of Knowledge award for developing the first highly effective immunotherapy treatment against cancer. Allison´s work has enabled the development of a new class of drugs that employ the immune system to fight cancer, and which have already provided clinical benefits to thousands of patients.

Turning the immune system into an ally in the fight against cancer is the goal of the agreement signed this morning by BBVA Group Executive Chairman Francisco González and Dr. Josep Tabernero, Director of the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO).

It´s already been proven that music is a balm for the soul, but research increasingly shows that it´s also a powerful medicine for the mind. When sounds reach the ear, a series of stimulants begin to travel over the neuronal connections and the brain releases dopamine, the same chemical substance that produces pleasure from food, drugs or sex. However, music does much more than this.

Tired eyes, hands and mind? Slave to your smartphone and a compulsive ‘selfie-taker? Young people are the ones that suffer the most from techno-addictions and the new ailments of the 21st century.

The Americas receive more tourists than anywhere else in the world. Nearly 191 million people decided to travel to there last year, according the World Tourism Organization. This represented a 5% increase in international tourism, mainly boosted by the appreciation of the dollar. But before you head for the Americas, it’s important to keep in mind a few health tips.