Volume 4, Issue 4 , Pages 382-385, December 2007
Growing global focus on men's health
Article Outline
- European Men's Health Forum - News from Gastein
- Prostate health is first mission healthy men target
- Controversy in the jmhg
- References
- Copyright
The 7th National Men's Health conference in Adelaide, Australia, the European Men's Health Forum ‘Inquisition into the prevention and management of LTHCs’ workshop at the 10th European Health Forum in Gastein and, in particular, the 5th World Congress on Men's Health and Gender (WCMH 07), with participants from 32 countries and especially strong representation from the United States and from former Eastern European bloc countries, all indicate that men's health is on the global agenda more than ever.
The three-day program of sessions at the 5th World Congress on Men's Health and Gender 2007 brought forth the most pressing issues in men's health. Extensive, well integrated social medicine discussions complemented presentations of the latest research findings and cutting-edge clinical perspectives. A consciously global opening ceremony, which called our attention to the health disparities among men that are associated with sociodemographic factors (HM Treadwell), to ongoing challenges for improving men's health outcomes throughout Europe (AK White), and to the quest for a systematic focus on men's health in Russia (A Kamalov), set an expansive tone and signalled congress attendees that the analytic framework would be worldwide. An exciting panel discussion on ‘Globalizing the Discussion of Men's Health Disparities,’ while reviewing findings and statistics from around the world, pointed to the need for concerted attention in the form of research, tracking, and programming in this area.
Presentations on the Vienna Declaration on the Health of Men and Boys in Europe noted that document's increasing influence. Ratified at the previous WCMH in 2005, this statement of principles for achieving better health for men and couched in a powerful call to action has, in its two-year lifespan, won the support of EU Commissioners for Health, and for Employment and Social Affairs, the English and Scottish health ministries, and many members of the European parliament (E Savoye). Its globalizing potential is evident in distressed urban communities in the USA, where researchers and policy advocates are using the Declaration to organize poor men who lack access to health care (AMW Young). At the close of this WCMH, representatives from the European Men's Health Forum, the Collins Center for Public Policy, and the National Center for Primary Care pledged to consider the best means to establish the Declaration as a truly global document – perhaps by broadening dissemination efforts, adapting its language, or issuing an international call to action.
An informative expert session on testosterone deficiency and the metabolic syndrome was also decidedly international in scope and content. Presenters from Germany (M Zitzmann), Sweden (S Arver), Great Britain (H Jones), and the USA (R Shabsigh) shared the latest clinical approaches and research findings on associations between hypogonadism and cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. Furthermore, insights from Canada, Great Britain and the USA emerged from models for broad interventions to improve men's health during the session on ‘Workplace Wellness and Occupational Health for Men.’
The closing session and roundtable discussion was an unprecedented East–West exchange, covering a wide range of topics such as urological concerns in general practice, metabolic risk factors in men, androgen deficiency, multidisciplinary approaches to men's health, attitudinal and behavioural factors affecting men's health-seeking, and the impact of incarceration on men's well-being. A vigorous question-and-answer period followed, in which presenters and congress guests from Russia established a rich dialogue with their counterparts from the West.
We have high hopes that the global focus throughout the WCMH has kicked off an era of greater international cooperation, increasing the profile of men's health concerns around the world, and hopefully leading to better health outcomes for men and their families across all nations.
European Men's Health Forum - News from Gastein
‘Health Systems need to get a grip on long term conditions’ rules EMHF Jury
The European Men's Health Forum (EMHF) chose a slightly unusual format to communicate a serious concern relating to men's health at this year's European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria.
The numerous participants in the lunch workshop, held on Thursday, 4 October 2007 at the Grand Park Hotel Bad Hofgastein, followed a court case against Man who was charged with the increasing burden of long term health conditions due to irresponsible behaviour.
John Bowis, a Member of the European Parliament and renowned public health expert, chaired the trial. Challenged by chief prosecutor Ian Banks, three expert witnesses contributed to the exculpation of the accused.
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| ‘Judge’ Bowis presides over the trial | ‘Prosecutor’ Banks listens critically to the experts’ testimony |
The defence's key points of evidence were as follows:
In light of the evidence produced, the jury declared Man ‘less guilty than the health systems meant to support him.’ Judge Bowis then released Man with a caution as to his future behaviour.
Prostate health is first mission healthy men target
In September 2007, the ISMH kicked off a new project boldly named mission healthy men. The project began ambitiously with the ‘Initiative Women and Men against Prostate Cancer.’ This first initiative is working towards a broad public awareness and consciousness in the medical profession about men's health by calling attention to prostate health and male cancer. It emphasizes public information, knowledge exchange and international networking. The initiative supports a number of grants to establish communication about methods of prevention and diagnosis. mission healthy men is supported by international ambassadors including Placido Domingo, Colin Powell, the Vienna Symphonics, the Nobel Prize Winners in Medicine Andrew Schally and Sir Paul Nurse, to name but a few, as well as by a range of international institutions and companies.
The initiative was launched with a Charity Gala Dinner at the Imperial Vienna Hofburg that coincided with the worldwide Prostate Cancer Awareness Week 2007 and with the WCMH. Over 300 distinguished guests attended the gala. The evening's program included addresses by the Austrian Chancellor, Dr A. Gusenbauer, and awards to prominent international men's health experts Drs Henrie M. Treadwell and Ian Banks.
Controversy in the jmhg
With this issue we start a new format of discussion in the jmhg. We will choose reviews and original articles and invite related editorials that do not shy away from controversy. We begin in this issue with the review by Professor Wolfgang Rutz and Dr Zoltan Rihmer on ‘Suicidality in men – practical issues, challenges, solutions’ [1]. Rutz & Rihmer claim that if we look at today's high male suicide rates as being the ultimate indication of men's mental ill-health, we face a major challenge to improve the determinants and preconditions for men's well-being and health at a broad societal level. Furthermore, they claim that females and males are ‘sitting in the same boat,’ meaning that both genders are defining and influencing each other's identities and social situations. As both genders experience identity problems and social strife, violence and suicide can result, as well as abuse, risk-taking behavior and stress-related somatic disorders that afflict both genders.
Psychiatrist Arnie Robbins [2], a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society's Committee on Men's Health, has quite a different view and interpretation of many aspects of the Rutz & Rihmer article. The behavioral sciences lack specific parameters and indicators in the laboratory to judge a phenomenon and must resort to questionnaires, interviews, and nuance, all of which are deeply biased by current social mores and the social setting (set) in which these phenomena take place. Thus, as Robbins points out, ‘it is important to distinguish which articles go beyond simply a point of view, and are substantiated by wisdom and depth, and which are merely an outgrowth of a current social trend? And which articles are motivated by the current social trend to KNOW that men are inherently defective in some manner and the task is simply to delineate that, and that women do not share these defects.’ Using the article in this month's jmhg by Rutz & Rihmer on suicidality in men, Robbins discusses this dilemma.
It is highly informative and educating to read both the Rutz & Rihmer review and Robbins’ accompanying, in part quite controversial, editorial.
Receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer can be as disturbing an experience for men as a breast cancer diagnosis is for women. We do know, however, that there is a definite difference in the effect of sex and gender on psychosocial aspects of prostate and breast cancer. In general, there is more patient support and psychological care for women with breast cancer than for men with prostate cancer. Sharpley et al [3], in this issue of the jmhg, have used personal interviews to capture the pattern of lost activities and abilities among men with prostate cancer. Their research aims to answer the question of how best to cultivate lifestyle changes to help men overcome the negative effects of prostate cancer on their mental health. The study confirmed that a primary impact of lost activities and abilities could be as a causal vector for anxiety and depression, and may provide a partial explanation of the higher rate of suicide among men with prostate cancer relative to their cancer-free counterparts. Their 50-item self-report questionnaire for exploring the causal factors underlying anxiety and depression among prostate cancer patients is a very useful tool for physicians caring for men with prostate cancer. An abbreviated version may perhaps encourage wider use of the questionnaire.
It is well-established and widely appreciated that men will tolerate much more risk, health-wise, than women. However, just as important is the fact that distinct inequalities also exist between men from differing cultural and socioeconomic circumstances. Men from different ethnic groups can be seen to have particular health challenges, as reported in this issue by Jane G. Fort [4] from the Targeting Cancer in Blacks Project (TCiB). Analyses found no significant differences in cancer prevention practices between men with high income and high education versus those with lower levels of income and education. However, the researchers did show significant differences between education and income groups in cancer prevention knowledge and attitudes. In her summary recommendations, Fort stresses that community-based health services may be particularly successful, especially when provided in non-traditional formats and venues by the usual source of care, a provider who is sensitive to the cultural nuances of the patient and who makes recommendations for appropriate prevention practises. It is further suggested that by capitalising on men's attraction to technology, the Internet may prove to be a valuable innovation for capturing men's interest and attention as patient-friendly websites are increasingly becoming available. However, it must be proven that men of low income will have access to the Internet and have adequate health literacy to make effective use of the information provided. The Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) programme in the United States offers and encourages a review of one's own as well as patients’ values and beliefs. But as Fort states, such features should be part of the health care system's objectives. They should be identified as priorities and considered essential elements for successful outreach to men, especially men of color, and in particular, black men.
References
- . Suicidality in men – practical issues, challenges, solutions. jmhg. 2007;4(4):
- . Reality versus virtual reality: which articles, which data. jmhg. 2007;4(4):
- Causal ‘mapping’ of depression and anxiety among prostate cancer patients: a preliminary interview study. jmhg. 2007;4(4):
- . Improving the health of African American men: experiences from the Targeting Cancer in Blacks (TCiB) Project. jmhg. 2007;4(4):
PII: S1571-8913(07)00218-X
doi:10.1016/j.jmhg.2007.11.001
© 2007 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Volume 4, Issue 4 , Pages 382-385, December 2007
