Launch of Global Action on Men’s Health

Globally, men die five years earlier than women and are 50% more likely to die between the ages of 15 and 60.  In countries classified as ‘least developed’ and ‘less developed’ by the United Nations, adult mortality fell faster among women than among men between 1992 and 2012.  In every part of the world, men’s health outcomes are substantially worse than women’s, yet this inequality has received little national, regional or global attention from health policymakers or healthcare providers.  At the start of Men’s Health Week 2014, a new organisation called Global Action on Men’s Health (GAMH) was launched to issue an urgent call to improve the poor state of men’s health in every part of the world.  It is backed by eight organisations based on four continents: Australian Men’s Health Forum, Canadian Men’s Health Foundation, Danish Men’s Health Society, European Men’s Health Forum, Men’s Health Forum England and Wales, Men’s Health Forum in Ireland, Prostate Cancer Education Council/Men’s Health Alliance (USA), and Sonke Gender Justice (South Africa).  GAMH wants the World Health Organisation, other international public health bodies, and individual governments to acknowledge the scale of the problems facing men and boys and to take sustained action to tackle them.  This work should sit alongside continuing action to improve the health of women and girls.  For more details see: www.gamh.org