A national campaign was needed to change men's old-fashioned attitudes to their health, Mr Simon Coveney (FG, Cork South Central) said.

Mr Coveney said a "semi-macho barrier" prevented men from talking about their health, but they needed to be educated about the risks facing them.

A national strategy might require "significant funding, research and targeting to maximise its effectiveness in highlighting health issues to the common man," he said.

Mr Coveney pointed to areas where men's health was "not taken seriously", including testicular and prostate cancer. These cancers "are a cause of a significant percentage of male cancer deaths every year in Ireland yet men by and large don't even know what to look for, or would never dream of getting a check-up to catch this killer disease in its infancy when it can be dealt with easily," he said.

In reply, the Minister of State for Health and Children, Ms Mary Hanafin, acknowledged the health issues specific to both men and women. The Department was finalising a new health promotion strategy which would set out an action plan aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of key population groups, she said. "Men have been identified in the draft strategy document as one such key group and I look forward to being in a position to introduce new initiatives in this regard within the coming month," she added.