The specific health issues faced by boys and men deserve attention. But waiting lists stand in the way of improvement
M
en, on average, have lower life expectancy than women – by around four years in the UK. They account for three-quarters of all deaths by suicide and are more likely to smoke and be overweight. Young men are more likely than young women to die as a result of accidents, violence or overdoses. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with around 12,000 deaths every year. A public consultation on whether to introduce screening for the disease opened last week, after an expert committee advised against it.
So the men’s health strategy for England launched recently by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, should be welcomed on principle. Just as a women’s health lens helps policymakers to focus on female reproductive health and risks, a men’s health lens should enable specific problems to be targeted more effectively.
The question is whether our overstretched health system is in a position to use this new tool as it would need to be used if outcomes are to improve. If it isn’t, the document won’t do any harm, but it won’t do much good either, beyond providing an officially endorsed summary and some potentially useful messaging.
