Men’s Health Strategy publication is pivotal moment for Men and Boys in England

The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) is warmly welcoming the Men’s Health Strategy announced by the government today (Wednesday 19^th November) as a pivotal moment in recognising the need to apply a gender focus to a wide range of public policy. 

CPRMB Policy Director, Mark Brooks says, “The men’s health strategy is game changing. Alongside focusing on improving health outcomes for men and boys, it puts men’s health firmly on the map. For the first-ever time, male health is being recognised as a distinct and vital area of public policy, professional practice and public health.

“The complementary focus on health research is very welcome too. The more evidence and understanding we have of what works will be a huge leap forward. This not only benefits men and boys themselves, it benefits their families, the community and the economy.”

Useful Facts in understanding men and boys’ health needs

• One in five men do not live to 65.
• On average, c12,000 men die from prostate cancer every year. This is 33 per day and one every 45 minutes. Roughly the same as the number of women who die from breast cancer each year.
• In 2014, 14 men died every day by suicide in the UK (three in every four) with a suicide rate increasing for the past four years. The suicide rate in England and Wales combined is the highest this century. More than 5,000 UK men take their own lives each year and Wembley Stadium could be filled with the number of men (95,255) in England and Wales who have died by suicide this century.
• In 2023, 6,983 men died in the UK specifically due to alcohol (19 per day), compared to 5,019 (14 per day) in 2019.
• 87 men every day in England die from cancer.
• 72 men under 75 die every day in England from cardio-vascular disease.
• In England, the lowest male life expectancy across local areas was in Blackpool (73.1 years); the highest life expectancy was in Hart in Hampshire (83.4 years).

Economic impact

The government’s ambition of an overall 80% employment rate (one which would make the UK one of the top performing countries in the world) would require a male employment rate of 83%, assuming the current gap in employment rates between men and women remains at 6%, as it has been seen since the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of working age men who are long-term sick is the highest on record, 1.338 million are long-term sick and 92,000 temporarily sick.  The Men’s Health Strategy will need to make inroads into these numbers if the economic benefits of increased employment are to be achieved.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Simon Garrett – simon@virtubrands.com – 07974 566043

Notes to Editors

The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB

The Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) is a research organisation and think tank dedicated to understanding and addressing issues that uniquely affect men and boys in the UK. Its vision is a world where men and boys of all backgrounds thrive in their families and communities, one where the sexes can rise together by supporting each other. It will do this by supporting the development of new research, thinking and insight into policy affecting men and boys.

Core Personnel - Richard Reeves (Chair); Nick Isles (Director); Mark Brooks (Policy and Communications Director).

Other board members include:

Professor Sir Michael Marmot CH, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London and former President of the World Medical Association

Will Hutton. economist, writer, public intellectual and former Editor-in-Chief of The Observer

Sonia Flynn CBE, former Chief Probation Officer for England

Professor Roger Kirby former President of the Royal Society of Medicine and founder of Prostate Cancer UK

Tim Shand, Consultant and international policy guru and close friend of Ann Limb

Gaby Hinsliff, columnist for The Guardian

Anna Machin, academic and author

Phil Collins, former speechwriter Tony Blair and co-founder of The Draftwriters, a consultancy specializing in political and corporate communication.

Sonia Sodha, commentator, columnist and leader writer

Jo Coburn is a journalist who has been at the heart of reporting, and presenting politics and current affairs on TV and Radio for 30 years.

Website: www.menandboys.org.uk

Press Release Number: PR04/25