THE HIDDEN TOLL ON MEN

By ADRIAN ASHBY

Coincidentally published at the start of Men’s Health Week. Cancer Research UK published the results of the most comprehensive research into the risks and treatment of all major cancers. The results shocked the researchers themselves. Men are 70% more likely to die of cancers that are not sex specific (and 40% more likely if all cancers are included).

Health services have only recently started to even consider the need to direct efforts towards men. Though such research indicates that many lives would be saved if the Government and NHS made an effort to address men’s needs there is little in the way of  action.

Men are more likely to contract all forms of cancer (apart from those specific to sex) and very much more likely to die in all apart from Melanoma.

One big issue for men is that the vast majority are at work when the NHS and all its programmes are in full function. Few services are available out of standard working hours.

If the Government and the NHS were truly concerned about this issue, they would open surgeries up on a Saturday, but they largely do not. If the issue was the other way round, of course they would.

 

Media Coverage - Daily Mail, Express, Telegraph,BBC

Comments

[John Kimble]

Decent article and you get the main points spot on.

One key issue is the way this is being covered. The bbc article I read completely blamed men for the problem rather than seeing the main issue as you have highlighted.

It was the usual nonsense with how men fail to look after their health etc and are useless etc.

However lets actually think about this for a second - two of the main causes of cancer are smoking and obesity - and some of the most recent figures I've seen show women more likely to smoke than men and more likely to be obese.

Thus if anyone is guilty of neglecting their bodies it's women, with your average man's failing being to fail to manage to see the doctor in time.

THis isn't only due to avaiability of services - it is due to attitudes and a big part of teh problem I'm afraid is organisations like Cancer Research themselves.

By far their biggest and most high profile event of the year regardign cancer is of course the Race for Life - it dwarfs everything else they do and is of course women only. This send out the message that cancer is almost exclusively a women's issue and men don't need to worry and/or aren't important.

[CS]

Since men's Health Week I have been looking into men's healthcare, reading articles on the web. It is immediately apparent how the NHS treats men as second class. Prostate cancer expenditure, screening and treatment are years, even decades behind breast cancer care. One news article (from 2007) showed how a new ultrasound treatment that was superior to current treatment techniques being dropped because of cost, imagine if that was breast or cervical cancer related, there would have been an uproar and not some wee column hidden inside the newspaper. Men really need to get a grip on what is happening, time to speak up!!!