More health screening needed for young men

WE NEED to be proactive about offering health checks and raising health awareness among young men, according to an expert who will address a conference in Galway later this week.

Of particular concern is the mortality rate for “working age” men, said Alan White, professor of men’s health at Leeds Metropolitan University, who will speak at a conference on men’s health being hosted by NUI Galway’s Health Promotion Research Centre on Thursday.

“One of the things that concerns me is that 26.6 per cent of all your male deaths [in Ireland] occur between the ages of 15 and 64,” said White, who calculated the percentage based on Eurostat figures.

“In the early years, 15 to 30, a lot of the deaths are from accidents and self harm. Then when you get beyond 35 you start to see a rapid increase in deaths from cancers and cardiovascular disease. So you have got these young men who think they are invincible, they can eat and drink and do what they want but they can’t – they are storing up problems. We have got to be more aware of picking issues up.”

White would like to see more health advice and screens on offer through the workplace or at sporting events.

“People say men are hard to reach. Men are hard to avoid. If you go to a rugby or football match, men are everywhere,” he said. “If you are not getting men to the clinics, then you have to start thinking about how to invite them. One way is to do health checks in the workplace or at sporting events or drop-in centres like pharmacies.”

White is involved with an initiative to offer health checks at matches.