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

Results: Disease

Diseases and the burden of ill health are the cornerstone of every JSNA. Producing information on the main causes of premature mortality and incidences of diseases in the local population provides local authorities with significant information to decide its funding allocation. If diseases and causes of premature mortality are gendered, then this will allow local authorities to target health resources more effectively.

Cancer mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality are often measures which are gendered. This positive development should be encouraged elsewhere as it shows JSNAs are identifying that more men are dying from cancers and cardiovascular diseases and that they are attempting to introduce a targeted response.

LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW MEN EXPERIENCE A PARTICULAR DISEASE UNTIL THEY ACTUALLY DIE FROM IT

However, there is much less gender disaggregated data on specific cancers and cardiovascular diseases. This includes the prevalence of lung and colorectal cancer, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and strokes. Furthermore, although mortality is often a gendered measure, the hospital admission rates related to these diseases are usually not.

As a result local authorities and CCGs have little knowledge of how many males are actually suffering from the disease until they have died.

Men may not have a high mortality rate for a particular disease, but may have a high diagnosis rate.

The table opposite shows how many JSNAs included gendered data on the incidence, admission and mortality rates for all cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. 

Some local authorities’ JSNAs have taken the differential experience of disease into account.

Lewisham has included gendered measures on the incidence and admission rates of cancer, as well as incidence and mortality rates of both lung and colorectal cancer. Furthermore their JSNA consists of gendered measures of coronary heart disease admission rates. Lewisham has used information from the London Health Observatory to determine the needs of men in the area.

Incidence and Mortality Rates for Heart Disease

CVD Mortality Rate 48%
CVD Incidence 0
Stroke Mortality Rate 36%
Incidence  0
Hypertension Mortality Rate 0
Hypertension Incidence 7%
Coronary Heart Disease Mortality Rate 38%
Coronary Heart Disease Incidence 14%
Diabetes Mortality Rate 14%
Diabetes Incidence 12%

 

Incidence and Mortality Rates for Cancer

All Cancer Incidence 33%
All Cancer Mortality Rate 49%
All Cancer Hospital Admissions 4%
Lung Cancer Incidence 29%
Lung Cancer Mortality Rate 39%
Lung Cancer Hospital Admissions 1%
Colorectal Cancer Incidence 29%
Colorectal Cancer Mortality Rate 31%
Colorectal Cancer Hospital Admissions <1%

 

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).