Key Facts on Men's Health in Ireland

The Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) was established in response to the growing recognition of the need to address the poor health status of males in Ireland. However, one of the first challenges facing it was to gain access to reliable data upon which to plan future interventions. This remains an ongoing concern - as the Forum seeks to work in an evidence informed way.

This barrier was, initially, overcome when MHFI launched its seminal ‘Men’s Health in Ireland’ report in January 2004 (www.mhfi.org/fullreport.pdf). This document provided the most comprehensive overview of key statistics on men's health on the island of Ireland ever collated up to that time.

To mark its twenty-first birthday in 2020, the Forum undertook ‘Men’s Health in Numbers’. Funded by the Health Service Executive’s Health and Wellbeing Division, this sought to produce:

A comprehensive Trends Report that describes, in detail, changes in significant markers of men’s health on the island of Ireland in the last twenty years.
An infographically-driven Men’s Health Report Card that provides a lay person’s synopsis of contemporary key men’s health statistics in the Republic of Ireland.

These were officially launched at a webinar on Thursday 10th December 2020.

Then, in early 2021, an Northern Irish version of the Report Card (funded by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Carers' Support Service) was added to this body of work.

In 2024, to mark Men's Health Week and to inform the overarching theme of the week (i.e. 'Know Your Numbers'), the Reports Cards for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were updated.

You are invited to download a free copy of each document at:

Men's Health in Numbers: Trends on the Island of Ireland - https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers1.pdf

Men's Health in Numbers: Republic of Ireland Men's Health Report Card 2024 - https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers2.pdf

Men's Health in Numbers: Northern Ireland Men's Health Report Card 2024 - https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers3.pdf