The report demonstrates that the commonly-held idea that men are invariably self-destructive when it comes to their health is not true—globally, most men do enough physical activity to benefit their health and do not smoke or drink alcohol—but it also very clearly shows that men’s health is unnecessarily poor. Average global life expectancy for men lags behind women’s by four years (70 v 74 years) and there is not a single country where men live longer than women. Around half of the sex difference in mortality from all causes in Europe is due to smoking and around one fifth is due to alcohol consumption. Globally, about 45% of male deaths are due to health behaviours, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Improving men’s self-care could therefore lead to major improvements in their health.
Who Self-Cares Wins shows that male gender norms are a key barrier to better self-care for men with men who most closely identify with ‘traditional’ masculinity most likely to exhibit damaging lifestyle behaviours. But health policies and services have not taken men into account. Only three countries have specific national men’s health policies (Australia, Brazil and Ireland). Most global health organisations do not address men’s health either. The report argues that while it is clearly the responsibility of individual men to take care of their own health, strategies to improve men’s health cannot simply be based on exhortations to change lifestyle practices that are rooted in gender norms and other social determinants of health. Who Self-Cares Wins argues that action on a multi-layered and systems-wide basis is needed to improve men’s self-care effectively.
The report’s recommendations include the introduction of health policies, including national men’s health policies, that recognise the needs of men; that full account is taken of male gender norms in policy and service delivery; the establishment of self-care as a strategic priority in public health policy and practice; action to improve men’s health literacy; the development of health services that are more accessible to men; better training in men’s health for health and related professionals; and accelerated research into improving men’s engagement in self-care and better practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners.