While decades of research have yielded many important findings about health and disease in men, this knowledge has not resulted in the benefits expected. But, as this extract from the Journal of Men’s Health editorial on the 2010 World Congress on Men’s Health suggests, 2010 should see some inportant steps forward.
Men are still less likely than women to seek medical care, and are nearly half as likely as women to pursue preventive health visits or undergo screening tests . There is a strong need to increase men’s health awareness and reduce this significant gender disparity. There is currently no guidance for practitioners to perform men’s health maintenance and conduct preventive services for men in a gender-specific, racially and ethnically sensitive approach. This is an area of highly unmet need and substantial public health impact.
New York conference
Therefore the ISMH will convene a one day consensus conference on best practice in men’s health maintenance and disease prevention on 30 April 2010 in New York, USA. A multidisciplinary international panel of experts will serve as faculty. The goal of the conference is to produce best practice statement for primary care practitioners and specialists on needs of the aging male throughout the lifespan from early adulthood to the elderly. The conference will not be sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. It will be sponsored solely by the ISMH.
EU men's health report
The need to understand the status of the health and well-being of the 288+ million men who live in the 34 countries is imperative if the social and economic development of the European Union (EU) is to flourish. Alan White , chair of men’s health at Leeds University, and the EMHF are putting together and developing the First State of Men’s Health Report with the aim to provide information and analysis for evidence-based development, implementation and evaluation of action for men’s health in the European Union, at both Community level and within Member States.
The project’s basic premise is that though there is a large amount of data collected that is sex disaggregated, an absence of a male specific analysis has meant that its implications have not been fully understood. By bringing together in one report the key data on men’s health a more complete picture will emerge of both the threats and the challenges to men’s health as we move into the first quarter of the 21st Century.
This information will help direct EU policy and act as a driver for Member States to take a more proactive stance on managing the health of half their population.The project will also attempt to harness the current political momentum regarding gender mainstreaming and the recognition that gender is an important factor in health service strategy development and service delivery.
This is an important report as it is the first time that a report of this magnitude has been undertaken on the health of men at the EU level. This report will also highlight the current challenges being seen in the health of men as a result of rapidly changing social circumstances, with the onset of a deep recession already producing an increase in unemployment and stress-related illness.
World Congress for Men’s Health in Nice
The World Congress for Men’s Health 2010 in Nice, France will be a multi-disciplinary landmark conference.
On behalf of the International Society for Men's Health (ISMH), the only international organization dedicated to the unmet need of improving men’s health of all ages and as part of its commitment to a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to men’s health, the ISMH is organizing the 7th World Congress on Men’s Health (WCMH) on 28-30 October, 2010 in Nice, France. In 2010, we will be inviting again a multi-disciplinary panel of international top experts in men’s health to lead the scientific activities of this meeting aimed for practicing physicians and health professionals from all fields related to and interested in men’s health.
A longer version of this article first appeared in the Journal of Men's Health.
