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

Leeds leads way on men's health

15/08/16 . Blog

Why can't all local authorities do this?

The landmark report The State of Men’s Health in Leeds shows the massive divergence in male life-expectancy depending on what part of the city you look at. Of the 750,000 people in the city, 164,000 live in areas ranked amongst the top 10 per cent most deprived areas in the country. There is a 10 year difference in life expectancy between Hunslet in the south of city and Harewood, less than ten miles to the north. And across nearly all causes of death, men in Leeds are more likely than women to die at a younger age. What's the picture like where you live? Many will not know.

Funded by Leeds City Council, this study makes Leeds the first city in the UK to explore the specific health and social issues of its male population. Every city should have one.

True, Leeds does have the leading academic research department for men's health on its doorstop at Leeds Beckett University but it's a shining example of what can be done. (And Men's Health Forum patron Professor Alan White who is the co-director of Leeds Beckett's Centre for Men’s Health and joint author of this report is only an email away.)

The Leeds City Council Health Scrutiny Board will be discussing men's health at 2.30 pm on September 7, 2016.

Come on, other local authorities!

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.

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