Men's health during the economic crisis
Article Outline
A staggering US$4 trillion has now been committed by developed nations to rescue the global economy but, even if this effort stabilises the financial system, governments will be left with huge national debts. Funding for health services could be reduced, and ill-thought out tax hikes could push more people into poverty. Decreasing health budgets could also prove problematic as demands for health care, such as mental health services, increase during the economic downturn [1].
Several weeks previously, the Ministers of Health from the 53 countries of the WHO in the European region signed a new ground-breaking charter on health systems, the so-called Tallinn Charter, “Health is the Right of Everyone”, committing themselves to concrete and measurable action on strengthening health systems that will allow both their own people and the international community to hold them to account [2].
But what of other health challenges?
Across the developed world, the health of men is in urgent need of attention. Male mortality is still greater than female mortality throughout life! Is maleness just a genetic disorder where nothing can be done? What are the health challenges? I hope that the WHO will respond adequately in the light of the Tallinn Charter 2008 and the Council of Europe's recommendation CM/REC (2008) 1 from the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the inclusion of gender differences in health policy. It is reasonable to expect that the WHO will take into greater account, with regard to health policy and practice needs, the differences between men and women in order to tackle men's health problems effectively. Furthermore, action is needed to improve men's use of primary health services and for a much greater variety of male-targeted health information. It is self-explanatory and important that all actions to improve men's health are taken within the context of achieving gender equality in order to avoid any competition for resources between the two sexes.
Men of colour from various ethnic backgrounds are, in general, always overlooked and underserved. During the economic crisis, the danger of oppression and discrimination resulting in fewer opportunities with regard to employment, housing, education and health is growing. Graham, Treadwell & Braithwaite's [3] article on social policy, imperilled communities and HIV/AIDS transmission in prisons points out the fact that African-American male imprisonment contributes to the destruction of African-American communities. The article concludes by offering overarching solutions and encouraging action in response to the myriad associated problems.
Rowell et al [4] contribute a systematic review about the factors associated with suicide among African-American adult men. They point out that the suicide prevalence rate among African-American men continues to be lower than that in Caucasian men, but an increasing rate of suicide completions among African-American men is evident. They identified nine overarching factors as being associated with suicide among African-American adult men. The majority of factors identified were risk factors, with education and economic structure being the most frequently listed. They further conclude that little research exists, particularly regarding suicide protective factors among African-American adult men, and provide specific areas for future research.
Finally Scott Woods et al [5] have contributed a paper about the influence of ethnicity on Gleason Score. A total of 1916 patients were included in the study. African-American men with prostate cancer were significantly more likely to have a high-grade Gleason score compared to Caucasian men. This further emphasises the importance of education, awareness and screening in the African-American community and again opens up the discussion on national systematic screening programmes in relation to special emphases and approaches to the ethnicity of participants.
References
- . Protecting health during the economic crisis. Lancet. 2008;372(9649):1520
- WHO Europe. The Tallinn Charter: Health Systems for Health and Wealth. WHO European Ministerial Conference on Health Systems, Talinn, Estonia, 25–27 June, 2008. Available at:http://www.euro.who.int/document/e91438.pdf.
- . Social policy, imperiled communities and HIV/AIDS transmission in prisons: a call for zero tolerance. jmh. 2008;5(4):267–273
- . Factors associated with suicide among African American adult men: a systematic review of the literature. jmh. 2008;5(4):274–281
- . The influence of ethnicity on Gleason score. jmh. 2008;5(4):314–317
PII: S1875-6867(08)00215-7
doi:10.1016/j.jomh.2008.11.001
© 2008 WPMH GmbH. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
