National Men's Health Week 2007

June 11-17: Long Term Medical Conditions

National Men's Health Week was first held in June 2002 and since then has grown in size and impact, firmly establishing itself as a key part of the public health improvement calendar.  Each year NMHW concentrates on a different area of policy relevant to men's health and in 2007, the Men's Health Forum turns its focus to men and the management of long-term medical conditions. 

One in three people in the UK is currently living with a long-term medical condition and a significant proportion of this number will be men.  However, men are increasingly unlikely to visit a doctor or engage with other health services and health promotion campaigns often fail to take account of the need for 'gender-sensitivity' in reaching male audiences.  The Men's Health Forum will address these issues through NMHW 2007 with a view to developing effective ways to reach men with long-term medical conditions and to increase men's capacity for self-care. 

Men are affected by a wide broad range of long-term conditions, for example: 

• Cardiovascular disease is the second most common problem. Over 1.5 million men living in the UK are estimated to have had either angina or a heart attack.
• Over 4% of men have diagnosed diabetes but an estimated additional 3% of men aged 35 and over have undiagnosed diabetes.
• Over 40,000 males in the UK are living with HIV or AIDS, over twice the number of females.
• Over 30,000 men in the UK are diagnosed each year with prostate cancer, many of whom live with it for many years with or without treatment.
• Many men live with long-term mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.

The Men's Health Forum is currently looking for potential partners to help develop the way forward for NMHW 2007.  If you would be interested in being involved with NMHW 2007, or would be interested in hearing more about our plans, we would like to hear from you. 

To download a pdf outlining our plans for NMHW2007 in more detail, as well as information on the areas of involvement we are offering potential partners, please click on the link below:

NMHW2007 Partnership Proposal

Details of the launch at The Sage Gateshead, can be found at the link below:

NMHW2007 Sage Launch

An expert symposium was held following the week in November in Leeds. More details about the event, including the presentations given at the event are available at the page below:

NMHW2007 - Symposium

While a current list of partners can be found at the link below:

NMHW2007 Confirmed partners

The NMHW2007 resource pack is available at the link below:

NMHW2007 Resource Pack

NMHW2007 - Evaluation

The NMHW2007 evaluation reports are now available online, by clicking the link above.

For more information, please contact: 

Matthew Maycock, National Men's Health Week Co-ordinator on <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = SKYPE />(0870) 1453815 or using the feedback box below.