I’ve been working in the field of men’s health for more than 40 years. For much of that time, I’ve felt like a lone-wolf calling out in the darkness for people to recognize that males live sicker and die sooner than females. We suffer from illnesses like addictions, depression, and Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at rates much higher than females. But over the years the balance has been shifting and now the world is waking up to the problems of men’s health and are ready to address solutions that are good for us all.
In his groundbreaking book, Dying to Be Men, men’s health expert Will Courtenay, Ph.D. says, “For all 15 leading causes of death [except Alzheimer’s], men and boys have higher age-adjusted death rates than women and girls. This remains true in every age group and throughout the life span. These 15 leading killers account for more than 80% of all deaths.”
“Over 375,000 lives would be saved in a single year in the U.S. alone if men’s risk of dying was as low as women’s,” says Daniel J. Kruger, PhD. According to Randolph Nesse, M.D., “If you could make male mortality rates the same as female rates, you would do more good than curing cancer.”
More and more men and women are reaching out for services to address the needs, but there are not enough health-care providers trained in this emerging new field of gender medicine and men’s health. In September I will be offering the first training program to give practitioners the tools they need to be helpful to the millions of men and women who are now seeking services.
Men’s Health: A Field Whose Time Has Come
Global Action on Men’s Health (GAMH) was launched during International Men’s Health Week in June 2014. It is a collaborative project that brings together men’s health organizations, and others which share their objectives, in a new global network. GAMH’s mission is to create a world where all men and boys have the opportunity to achieve the best possible health and wellbeing wherever they live and whatever their backgrounds.
According to Laura Kurtzman from the University of California, San Francisco, “All over the world, men die younger than women and do worse on a host of health indicators, yet policy makers rarely focus on this ‘men’s health gap’ or adopt programs aimed at addressing it, according to an international group of researchers and health charity workers.” A group of highly respected experts in the field of men’s health including Peter Baker (Global Action on Men’s Health), Shari Dworkin (University of California, San Francisco), Sengfah Tong (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), Ian Banks (European Men’s Health Forum), Tim Shand (Sonke Gender Justice, Cape Town, South Africa) and Gavin Yamey (Global Health Group, University of California, San Francisco) have written a report published August 1, 2014 in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
“The continued neglect of men’s poor health status by policy makers harms not only men, but also women and children,” said senior author Gavin Yamey, MD, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, who teaches in the global health sciences program at University of California, San Francisco. “For example, studies have shown that male alcohol dependence is linked to emotional and behavioral problems in their children, men’s physical illness can impair the psychological health of their female partners, and when men are sick, injured or die, households and female partners may suffer a loss of income.”
Among the reasons cited by the researchers for the persistent gender disparity are male gender norms, which include reluctance among men in many areas of the world to seek medical care or follow medical advice.
In Africa, researchers have found that adherence to masculine norms not only increases the risk of HIV infection but also keeps men from getting tested for HIV infection or getting treatment when they test positive. Men often feel ashamed of needing treatment so they avoid getting help when needed.
Men are also more likely than women to adopt risky behaviors that are hazardous to health, such as excessive alcohol use. In 2010, according to the study, 3.14 million men, as opposed to 1.72 million women, died from causes linked to excess alcohol consumption. And men are at greater risk of occupational hazards, including physical injury and chemical exposures. In the U.S., the occupations with the highest risk of fatal occupational injury—including agriculture and mining—employ more men than women.
So far, only Australia, Brazil and Ireland have adopted national strategies aimed at improving men’s health. But as more and more people recognize the need for an approach to health care that emphasizes gender health issues, men and women are reaching out for health-care services. When the need is great, change can occur.
The authors of the study focus on three basic approaches that work: helping men make healthy lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, cutting down on alcohol or losing weight; bringing men into discussions with their partners about contraception, sexual health and the health of their children, for example, with vaccinations; and challenging traditional gender roles that help men to rethink masculine norms that are harmful, while also making male-female relationships more equal.
As Dylan reminds us, “The times they are a changin’.” More and more people are reaching out for help and demanding a greater focus on men’s health issues. For more information on the upcoming training program for men’s health, feel free to email me and view my short video introduction.
