Global health policy 'undermining men's health'

Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organizations.

According to a Viewpoint article in this week's Lancet, data from the 'Global Burden of Disease: 2010' study shows that all of the top ten causes of premature death and disability, and top ten behavioural risk factors driving rates of ill-health around the world, affect men more than they affect women.

In every region of the world men die at a younger age than women and the smallest decline in global mortality rates over the past 40 years has been experienced by young men aged 25-39 years.

The commentary, written by Dr Sarah Hawkes of the UCL Institute for Global Health and Dr Kent Buse of UNAIDS, reviews the responses of major global health institutions and finds that efforts and resources are focused more often on the health needs of women.

The authors argue that global health institutions should start tackling the social norms and commercial interests that push men to take risks with their health.

"Drinking alcohol and smoking, in particular, are subject to social pressures which have resulted in men globally running three times the risk of ill-health from these behaviours compared to women. These norms and customs are clearly perpetuated by all of us, and exploited by commercial interests," Hawkes said.

Dr Hawkes, an expert in sexual health, said that "the global health community has made real strides in acknowledging and addressing unsafe sex, we must now do the same for 'unsafe gender'.