Researchers call for Men’s Health policy

Successive New Zealand governments have failed to develop a policy or strategy focused on men’s health, falling behind countries like Mongolia, Australia, Ireland, Iran, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil and the state of Quebec.

This week researchers from the Centre for Men’s Health at Otago University published an article in The Conversation stating that the consequences of this failure for New Zealand men are dire, with research showing men falling behind women in terms of access to health care, diagnoses and overall life expectancy.

The picture is even more bleak for Māori and Pacific men.

The researchers believe Men’s Health Week is a good time to consider how New Zealand men might be better served by a targeted health policy and how this might benefit the country as a whole.

Read the Centre for Men’s Health article in The Conversation here