What Is Men’s Health Week?

Men’s Health Week is a national week that aims to highlight the importance of improving the state of male health in Australia. Reaching out to local service providers, groups and individuals, Men’s Health Week provides a platform for individuals to share, provide feedback and support others when it comes to male health issues.

There are over 160 events running this year during Men’s Health Week across Australia. These events include seminars, talks, workshops and forums where you can decide what are the health priorities or concerns you want health professionals across Australia to focus on this year.

Why Is It Important?

The Statistics

To get an understanding of why Men’s Health Week is important, we need to look at the numbers in terms of the population. To date, there are 11.1 million males in Australia since 2010, which is 49.8% of the total population. Of the 11.1 million, 12% earn less than $150 each week, and around 58,000 Australian males are homeless.

High Admissions To Hospital Every Year

In 2008–09, there were 3.9 million hospitalisations among males, accounting for 47% of all hospitalisations.

Men’s health is important as male individuals reflect a large portion of individuals being admitted to the hospital. Most common reasons for hospital admissions of males in Australia were for:

– Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol

– Pain in throat and chest

– Pneumonia

– Type 2 diabetes

– Schizophrenia

In Australia, there are a number of leading causes of death that are more prominent for males than females. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, these include:

– Ischaemic Heart Disease

– Lung Cancer

– Stroke

– Prostate Cancer

How Can I Get Involved?

Each day of this week, PeoplePledge will be highlighting the most wide spread and concerning health issues for males in Australia. We feel it is important to talk about these health issues to create greater awareness of the prominence of particular diseases and illnesses affecting men more so than women, but also to create a platform for people to openly talk about these issues without fear of feeling embarrassed or ashamed.

You can also check out the events happening in your local area here.