One man in five dies before the age of 65.
TOGETHER we can change that.

Design targeted programmes

MEN'S HEALTH MANIFESTO: Around the needs and attitudes of the highest risk men and boys.

Male targeting – especially higher risk groups and at appropriate stages of the life course – with particular focus on areas and transitions where groups have higher risk:

  • Unemployed men
  • Men experiencing relationship breakdown
  • Men in the criminal justice system
  • BAME men – eg. prostate cancer, mental health & diabetes
  • Gay & bisexual men – eg. sexual health, including chem-sex, and smoking
  • Trans men
  • Disabled men
  • Male carers
  • Homeless men
  • Isolated older men
  • Young dads
  • Excluded boys.

Why is this important?

Not all men are equally at risk.

As examples:

  • Unemployed men are significantly more likely to suffer from heart attacks and depression and are significantly more likely to smoke and report greater mental health and relationship worries.
  • Black men are three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men of the same age.
  • A recent study showed that by age 80, twice as many British South Asian, Black African and African Caribbean men had developed diabetes compared with Europeans of the same age.
  • Gay and bisexual men report higher levels of depression, are more likely to attempt suicide, are more likely to smoke and are also much more likely to have used recreational drugs and have engaged in binge drinking compared to men in the wider population.
  • 42% of carers are male. Seven out of ten male carers said that that they missed out on having a social life, leaving them isolated and alone.
  • Around 88% of rough sleepers are men. The average age of death for rough sleepers is 47.

> Next section: Tailored health awareness and literacy, especially amongst boys

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

Registered with the Fundraising Regulator

Contact
Address
  • The Men's Health Forum
  • 82 Tanner Street
  • London, SE1 3GN

Charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1087375). Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 4142349).