Men’s health has for too long been a problem hiding in plain sight at both the global and national levels. Men’s poor outcomes, not least in terms of premature mortality, are obvious but have not been addressed effectively by either policymakers or practitioners. There are now, at last, some signs of change – but are they enough to make a difference?
Life expectancy at birth in England remains significantly higher for females than males. In 2013-15, female life expectancy was 3.6 years higher than male life expectancy, according to new data on health inequalities published this month by Public Health England (PHE). Deprivation has a particular impact on male life expectancy: in 2013-15, men living in the most deprived areas lived 9.2 years fewer than men in the least deprived areas; the equivalent figure for women was 7.1 years.
Men’s Health Week 2017 kicks off very soon (on 12 June) and is a fantastic opportunity for men’s health organisations around the world both to engage men and to make the case for systematic action to tackle the many problems they still face. Read the rest of this entry »
The idea that, when it comes to health, men are reckless or clueless fools is a simplistic caricature that has been blown away, hopefully once and for all, by a new very large multinational survey commissioned by Sanofi Consumer Health Care. Read the rest of this entry »
The second Men’s Health Week in the U.K. was launched in London in 2003 in a venue that will seem strange to many U.S. readers—a betting shop. This was chosen not because the organisers, the Men’s Health Forum (the charity I was CEO of at the time), wanted to encourage men to gamble away their hard-earned money. Rather, we wanted to launch the Week in a place where many men feel comfortable and where we could reach them with health messages they might not otherwise see. Read the rest of this entry »
Many health outcomes indicators are worse for men than women but men’s health is often overlooked by global and national health organizations. In this blog, I argue that there is a strong ethical, economic and social case for new approaches that address the needs of men and justify their inclusion in the dialogue about the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals. Read the rest of this entry »
Men’s health is surely one of the most significant public health problems to have been largely overlooked by policymakers and practitioners. This is despite the clear evidence of poor outcomes for men. Read the rest of this entry »
What has men’s health got to do with International Women’s Day? An event which celebrates women might seem an odd time to mention an issue affecting the half of the population that, for the most part, has blocked and continues to block gender parity. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s time men demanded action from their governments and health services to tackle the big problems with men’s health. We can no longer hope that politicians and doctors will, on their own, do what is needed. Quite simply, they must be persuaded, prodded and pushed. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been working as an advocate in the men’s health field for over 20 years but there are still moments when the significance of what I’m trying to do strikes me in a new and different way. About six months ago, when I was walking through the cemetery near my home in Brighton, on England’s south coast, I started to notice the inscriptions on the headstones of couples who had been interred side-by-side. Read the rest of this entry »