Men and health

A search on men’s health in past issues of the New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) yielded only a few articles—mostly on prostate cancer. In contrast, a search on women’s health yielded a substantial number of published works. Recently, however, there appears to be more interest in men’s health issues, in particular encouraging New Zealand men to be more active in their healthcare decisions1,2—hence the publication of men’s health articles in this issue of NZMJ. This editorial will highlight the state of men’s health, the issues that impact on this group’s health, and men’s engagement with health and health professionals. The published articles raise the profile of men’s health, emphasise the heterogeneity of men (particularly gay men), and show that compared to women men are more likely to be victims of violent acts. The relatively few available published works consistently show the poorer state of men’s health. It is widely acknowledged that men do not live as long as women. Moreover, although the following conditions are not exhaustive or exclusive to men, some of the common causes of male deaths include cancers, heart disease