Even today, too many men are dying too young. We are calling on the government to introduce a Men’s Health Strategy to address this.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. Who is missing from your team of family and friends?

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A men's health strategy is needed

Men are dying needlessly young. One man in five dies before the age of 65 (and 40% of men die before the age of 75).

Why? Because three-quarters of premature deaths from heart disease are male, three-quarters of suicides are male and men are 43% more likely to die from cancer.

It is urgent

The case is clear: we need look no further than male life-expectancy.

• male-life expectancy in the Bloomfield ward of Blackpool in north-west England is 68.2 years
• male-life expectancy in the Warfield ward of Bracknell Forest in south-east England is 90.3 years.

That is a gap of 22 years. There is no genetic difference between men in the north-west and men in the south-east of England. If those in the most deprived areas had access to the same health resources as those in the least deprived, there is no reason why most men in the UK shouldn't live to 90 years or more.

It is logical

The government has already recognised the need for a gender-informed approach to health care with its excellent decision to start work on a Women's Health Strategy for England. The case for a similar men's health strategy is unanswerable.

A strategy - not just for England - but also in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - will enable the many inequalities around prevention, care and outcomes in both the physical and mental health of men and boys to be addressed in a comprehensive and systematic way.

It will work

Similar policies and strategies already work effectively in many countries including Ireland and Australia while here in the UK, on a local level, cities such as Leeds have introduced a gender-informed approach to health.

It is widely-supported

Backed by a coalition of men's health practitioners, academics and charities, more and more policy-makers support the idea. In the UK parliament, the All-Party Group on Men and Boys is currently reviewing the case for a men's health strategy while the Women and Equalities Committee of MPs in the last parliament recommended, following an inquiry into male mental health, that government give 'serious consideration' to one.

Let's level up mens health

Let's make sure policy-makers know that we support a men's health strategy. You can read the case for change in more detail here or download a PDF. Please sign up below to back the campaign.

Current supporters include the Men's Health Forum, the Patients Association, UK Men's Sheds Association, Prostate Cancer UK, Rugby League Cares, the Men & Boys Coalition, CHAPS, Mengage, Black Men's Consortium & the ManKind Initiative. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Issues Affecting Men and Boys has also backed the call. 

Sign up below to join the campaign for a Men's Health Strategy.