Mon average have lower life expectancy than women – approximately four years in the UK. They account for three quarters of all deaths by suicide, are more likely to smoke and are overweight. Young men are more likely than young women to die from accidents, violence or overdose. Prostate cancer is most common cancer in menwith about 12,000 deaths each year. A public consultation on whether screening for the disease should be introduced opened last week following a meeting of an expert committee. I didn't recommend it This.
So, men's health strategy For England, recently proposed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting should be welcomed in principle. Just as a women's health perspective helps policymakers focus on women's reproductive health and risks, a men's health perspective should allow specific problems to be addressed more effectively.
The question is whether our overburdened healthcare system can use this new tool, as it will need to be used if we are to improve outcomes. Otherwise, the document will not do any harm, but it will not be of much use, except for an officially approved summary and some potentially useful messages.
In terms of resources, the strategy calls for £300 million to be allocated in 2025-26 to public health projects. While this is a useful tool for primary care innovators, it is not enough to make a difference at the national level. More important is the upcoming review of the GP funding formula, which should lead to increased funding poor areas where people are on average less healthy. There is also a commitment to improve data by disaggregating it by sex as well as other characteristics to make the vulnerabilities of specific groups (for example men from certain ethnic minorities or gay men) clearer.
Other new commitments include a campaign to encourage walking and running following the success of the NHS. Couch to 5k app. The strategy also demonstrates the Government's support for peer support networks and personal experiences through drug and alcohol and cancer treatment programmes. Pilot projects launched as part of the government's Make Britain Work strategy, are of particular importance to young men, who are more likely than young women to be nits (not in education, employment or training).
A new academic network on men's health, which will provide expert advice, seems useful, but it will have to choose its priorities among the huge number of issues raised in the strategy. These include influence of social networks use on the mental health of men and boys, a possible link between Internet pornography and sexual dysfunction, and the suggestion that men on average have lower levels of “health literacy” than women.
Improving men's health—including better detection of men's cancers—is itself sound public policy and, if communicated well, can also resonate with voters. One £42 million prostate cancer screening trial is already underway. This strategy and associated campaigns should not become a distraction from the deeply troubling bigger picture. Huge waiting lists for the treatment and disorders caused by costly reorganization of the National Health Service are a problem for men suffering from drug addiction, prostate cancer or any other disease, just as they are for everyone else.
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