Don't wait to watch them die
Take health services to men!
The lower life expectancy of men is mainly due to insufficient uptake of healthcare services and an unhealthy life style
Low social status influences men's health far more than women's health
Medical care must address men at work, at sports centres, and other gatherings
Compared with women, the lower life expectancy of men is only to a very limited extent the result of genetic determination. The main reasons are an unhealthy lifestyle and the fact that men use healthcare services too little and too late. ‘That’s the bad news. The good news is: We can change this,’ said Ian Banks, British Medical Association (BMA) spokesperson for men’s health issues and president of the European Men’s Health Forum at the 2008 European Health Forum Gastein. Urging a radical change in the attitude of health professionals and healthcare systems towards men’s obvious disregard of health issues, he added: ‘As long as we sit around and wait for them, it makes no sense to lament about men’s neglect of their health needs and inadequate use of our great health system. If men do not come to us, we must go to them.’
Where? Men who are faced with health issues in the workplace, where it is made obvious that better health is linked with greater success and higher professional standing, are more open to advice and lifestyle changes. Information campaigns at football or rugby stadiums have also proved quite successful, Ian Banks pointed out. ‘No matter what someone may think about it – it works.’ He also expressed regret that too little political backing is placed on men’s health issues: ‘There were already two EU reports on women’s health but we are still waiting for the first one on men’s health.’
There is little doubt about the urgency. A striking fact is that low social status affects men’s health far more than for women. In socially deprived areas of Great Britain, for example, men’s life expectancy is as low as 54 years, whereas in other areas their life expectancy is up to 80 years. There are no similar differences between women with low or high social status, he pointed out. ‘Furthermore, we know the health of women and men is often inextricably linked. Whoever wants to seriously tackle the problem of inequalities in health has to deal with men’s health issues.’
20.12.2008
