Attitude problem, inequalities in life expectancy, UK
The formation of organsations actively working to reduce inequalities between men and women, and the successful introduction of the national Men's Health Week, has helped push men's health onto the policy agenda, and although the government has yet to demonstrate its commitment by introducing gender-specific health policies, practitioners on the ground are increasingly looking for ways to reach out to those groups of men who have traditionally been disinclined to take an interest in their health.
The discrepancy between male and female life expectancy rates in the UK is partly attributable to the fact that early detection rates of serious illnesses in men, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and lung disease, lag behind those of women. Early presentation to health services can save lives but some men are reluctant to visit their GP.
In the 12 months to March 2003, 68 per cent of males had contact with their GP, compared to 84 per cent of females. Even those men who experienced symptoms of ill health were still unwilling to make a doctor's appointment. Research shows that men wait an average of three to four months between discovering a symptom of testicular cancer and visiting their GP - a particularly galling statistic given that survival rates for testicular cancer are high if tumours are detected at an early stage.
While both sexes may be reluctant to undergo medical tests - a negative diagnosis is of course a very real fear for both men and women alike - it is the cultural differences between genders that seem to imbue in many men an aversion to seeking out medical advice. Unwilling to admit to physical vulnerabilities, many men are inclined to ignore any symptoms they have in the hope that they will disappear of their own accord.
'If you think of how men are brought up, and what masculinity means, it's about being seen to be tough. Having an illness isn't consistent with those images,' says Peter Baker, director of the Men's Health Forum. But disparities between male and female life expectancy are not solely down to cultural differences, Mr Baker adds. He argues that gender inequalities in health are also attributable to a failure on the part of health services to make themselves more attractive to men. 'Health promotion campaigns don't tend to engage with men and doctors don't do much to market themselves to men.'
Many women are likely to have long-established relationships with local health services - mothers, in particular, will have been in regular contact with health services throughout their pregnancy and the early years of their children's lives whereas, between the ages of 16 and 45, men are often only in sporadic contact with their GP. Some practitioners feel that this makes a GP's surgery an unwelcoming environment for some men.
A waiting room packed full of women and children may further intimidate those who are averse to attending in the first place. Nor are the nine-to-five opening hours conducive to bringing men in for health checks, says Dr Howard Stoate, MP and chair of the all-party group on men's health. 'I think some men can be reluctant to ask their boss for time off work to visit their GP. There is an ingrained view that it's wimpish to be ill.'
But this doesn't mean we should presume that men are unwilling to talk about their health, adds Dr Stoate. What they need is an opportunity to access health services in a setting that is more 'male-friendly'. 'We assume that men don't like to talk about their health altogether but that's not true. What they don't want to do is talk about it in the traditional medical setting, but they will do it in a setting they feel comfortable in.'
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by Samantha Thorp
Atitudinea problemã, în speranþa de viaþã a inegalitãþilor, Marea Britanie - Attitude problem, inequalities in life expectancy, UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate