5 hours agoShareSaveNick TriggleShareSaveGetty ImagesThis month the government in England will launch a consultation for its men’s health strategy. The move is long overdue, experts say, with men much more likely to die prematurely than women. But why are they in such poor health – and what can be done about it?Andrew Harrison was running a men’s health clinic from a youth centre in Bradford when he heard a knock. He turned to the door, but no-one was there. Then he heard his name being called. He looked around to see a young man at the window asking for condoms.”I was on the first floor,” he says, recounting the story from a few years ago. “The lad had shimmied up a drainpipe on the outside of the building because he didn’t want to go through the reception and ask.”The anecdote, in many ways, encapsulates the challenges over men’s health – a combination of risk-taking behaviour and a lack of confidence and skills to engage with health services.Early deathsIn the UK men are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs and have high cholesterol and blood pressure.These are major contributors to the fact men have a lower life expectancy than women – by four years – and are nearly 60% more likely to die prematurely before the age of 75 with heart disease, lung cancer, liver disease and in accidents.Prof Alan White, who founded the Men’s Health Forum charity and set up a dedicated men’s health centre at Leeds Beckett University, says the issue needs to be taken more seriously.He cites the pandemic as an example, pointing out that 19,000 more men than women died from Covid. “Where was the outrage? Where was the attention?”He says it is too easy to blame men’s poor health on their lifestyles, arguing “it’s much more complex than that.”He says there are biological reasons – the male immune system is less able to fight off infection. But, as the story of the young man seeking condoms above demonstrates, they can also lack the skills to access health services.Prof White says: “Men are less health-literate, that is to say they don’t develop the skills to talk about their health and recognise and act on the signs. Men’s health is very static from their teenage years right through into their 40s generally – many go years without see a health professional.”It is different for women. Getting contraception, having cervical screening and then childbirth means many women have regular contact with health services in a way men do not.”Stark differencesMachismo is also a factor, says Mark Brooks, the policy adviser for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men’s and Boy’s Issues, which has played a key role in influencing the government to draw up a men’s health strategy.”In society we have different expectations in regards to men. They are expected to man up and get on with things, to be strong and resilient.”But he says when it comes to men’s health it is important to pay particular attention to the impact of deprivation. Life expectancy in the poorest 10% of areas is 10 years less than in the wealthiest – a larger gap than is seen for women – and in the most deprived areas a man is 3.5 times more likely to die before the age of 75.”You cannot ignore the stark differences when it comes to left-behind communities and those working in blue-collar jobs like construction and manufacturing,” he says. “The way health services are designed isn’t working for men.”NHS health checks, which are offered every five years to those aged 40 to 74, are considered a crucial intervention when it comes to many of the diseases which are claiming the lives of men early. But fewer than four in 10 men take up the offer.”Someone working in construction or on an industrial estate will find it very difficult to take time off whether that’s for a health check or to g …
