The life expectancy of men in Ireland has increased by 20 years since 1926 but men still die on average five years before women, according to new figures.
A policy governing men's health and well-being was launched by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children Mary Wallace this morning.
The National Men's Health policy 2008 – 2013 highlights the need for a specific focus on men's health needs and offers a series of recommendations on how to support men to take more responsibility for their own health.
Male life expectancy in Ireland is currently 77.1 years compared to 81.8 years for women In addition men have higher death rates for most of the leading causes of death across all age groups and on average experience some form of ill-health or disability for 13.7 years of their lvies.
The burden of ill health and mortality is borne, in particular, by men from lower socioeconomic groups who are on average up to six times more like to die from the leading causes of death than men from higher socioeconomic groups.
Moreover, while the gap in male and female mortality for all causes of death is consistent across all ages groups, it is most pronounced between the sexes aged 20 -30 years, with men in this age bracket 3.5 times more likely to die than their female counterparts.
The policy's co-author Dr Noel Richardson from the Centre for Men's Health Research and Training at the Institute of Technology, Carlow said this morning that the issue of men's health concerns everyone.
"Targeting men's health can have a beneficial impact on men's lives and can also lead to a positive spin-off on the lives of women and children," he said.
Dr Richardson added that research suggests that men deal less well with economic difficulties than women and warned of the possibility of a rise in men's health issues due to the recession.
Among the recommendations included in the policy are for the establishment of a centre for research and development in men's health, the piloting of a national men's health helpline and the provision of specific training courses for those working with men.
Minister Wallace admitted this morning that in the present economic climate it is not possible to provide additional resources to assist in the implementation of any of the recommendations and actions contained in the policy, which took over four years to compile.
However, she said the direction provided in the policy would be of assistance to those working in the area of delivery services.
