University of Otago researchers have found men are dying too young, with two in five dying before the age of 75 from preventable conditions.
They also found suicide was the leading cause of death for men aged 15-34 and too many were suffering in silence.
The researchers have contributed to an 80-page document which calls for the government to invest in a national men’s health strategy.
University of Otago Centre for Men’s Health co-director Dr Ally Calder said centre researchers worked in conjunction with the Movember Institute of Men’s Health and the Kārearea Institute for Change, to develop The Real Face of Men’s Health: Aotearoa New Zealand — the most comprehensive report on men’s health to date.
Dr Calder said the strategy must be grounded in equity and partnership with Māori and include establishing a men’s health task force to guide policy, programmes and research; prioritise investments in community-based programmes; build a healthcare system and workforce that responded to the needs of men; and advance research which responded to how men engaged with their health and health services.
The report contained research on Māori and Pacific men’s health, suicide, coronary heart disease, cancer, physical activity, and ageing well, providing a detailed view of the present state of men’s health.
It showed many men were "falling through the cracks" in the healthcare system by delaying help-seeking due to their poor experiences with healthcare professionals and a lack of culturally appropriate services, she said.
The team had created a database of all the research and programmes in the country that support men’s health and as a result, they were able to provide evidence-based recommendations for the government to consider in future policy making and investments in this area, she said.
"The report also shows there are already some amazing programmes in the community, many of which are not gender sensitized specifically for men but do enhance their health."
These programmes needed to be scaled up, with financial support from the government, she said.
More research evaluating these services was needed, to help provide the evidence needed for investment at a government level.
