His health: The manly thing to do

 

The challenges to improving men’s health are myriad, not least of which is the general male attitude towards taking care of their health.

There was a man who had never seen a doctor in his adult life. One day, after retirement, he had chest pains while climbing the stairs. Two days later, he had a heart attack and died.

This could serve as a cautionary tale for most men, who often treat their health as an afterthought, assuming that they have ample time and opportunity to fix the problems as and when they occur. 

Men’s health issues have long been over-simplified, running the risk of becoming a parody, such as the one where middle-aged men lament about erectile dysfunction while their long-suffering wives look on.

This one-dimensional perspective does not even begin to hint at the complex spectrum of factors that contribute to men’s health, including different life stages, socio-economic factors, traditional and cultural stereotypes, as well as changing disease trends.

Yet, here we are – with several generations of men who have witnessed rapid socio-economic development, dramatic cultural changes and sophisticated medical and technological advances, but relatively far less progress made in terms of creating an environment where men are encouraged to take control of their health.

Important man-date: There’s a complex spectrum of factors that contribute to men’s health, including different life stages, socio-economic factors, traditional and cultural stereotypes, as well as changing disease trends. – MCT

A complex, layered picture

Let’s look at the context in which men live and age today. It is a rapidly greying world, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) noting that “the proportion of people aged over 60 years is growing faster than any other age group, as a result of both longer life expectancy and declining fertility rates”.

This situation is also reflected in Asia, with the population of those 65 years and above projected to increase three-fold by 2050. This will likely mean that the majority of men in Asia upon reaching their late 50s can look forward to another 20 years of life. 

However, the story isn’t just about men living longer, but also about how they live and how their communities cope with the increasing number of retired seniors. 

There are several other layers to the story. One is the status of men’s health – what risk factors they build up over the years, what illnesses they suffer from, and what lifestyle practices predispose them to these illnesses. Another layer is how the health systems of diverse countries deal with men – is there a nuanced approach, taking into consideration the distinctive characteristics of men’s health issues, or is it a blanket approach that treats men as a homogeneous population?

A consensus on men’s health

As these questions demonstrate, the challenges to improve Asian men’s health are huge, and the disparities between countries and within each country are vast. Within each country, there is a discrepancy in the health status between men and women, and men have significantly higher mortality and morbidity rates for most diseases compared to women.

The cause is multi-factorial, including male-specific behaviours and women-focused healthcare systems. Therefore, there is a need to systematically document these health variations between men and women across Asia.

The Asian Men’s Health Report, published by the Malaysian Men’s Health Initiative in 2013, appears to be the first step to establish the health status of men in Asian countries, using existing credible health databases such as WHO’s Statistical Information System and GLOBOCAN. The health-related topics covered in this report include population and public health; lifestyle; communicable and non-communicable diseases; and mental, sexual and social health.

More than just a compilation of national statistics, however, the report goes one step further with the Delphi KOL’s Consensus Study. This consensus study invited feedback from 128 key opinion leaders in Asia, based on the health topics covered above. Their recommended strategies to improve men’s health were published in the report as a key component of every chapter.

What next?

The disparities in health status between men and women identified in this report, as well as the issues raised by the KOLs, will provide valuable guidance for policy-makers looking to improve the health status of men in their respective countries.

Moving forward, health policy-makers, health financiers and researchers in Asia will need to use all the resources at hand, utilising modern technologies and adopting time-tested Asian knowledge and wisdom on health, to address the gaps in their healthcare systems.

Today’s challenges will require tomorrow’s solutions. Using advances in ICT, Asia may have the opportunity to build a new infrastructure for men’s health, which includes engaging men in the later years as they seek to live the “bonus years” of their lives.

Locally, the Malaysian Men’s Health Initiative has already made plans to leverage on the smartphone trend among men. An upcoming project, Prime Men’s Health, seeks to provide optimal healthcare solutions for men by utilising digital messages to engage with men and empower them to take charge of their health. This project will update men with the latest health information, based on sound scientific evidence, that they might otherwise have difficulty obtaining.

The Prime Men’s Health project will also offer healthcare solutions to those who participate, by giving them access to top experts in various specialities and linking them with the best international healthcare centres. By giving men easy and direct access to various avenues of healthcare, Prime Men’s Health will open up more opportunities to interact with men and give men the confidence to seek preventive and proactive healthcare – long before diseases set in.

There will be more information about this project in future instalments of this column.

> This article is contributed by The Star Health & Ageing Panel, which comprises a group of panellists who are not just opinion leaders in their respective fields of medical expertise, but have wide experience in medical health education for the public. The members of the panel include: Datuk Prof Dr Tan Hui Meng, consultant urologist; Dr Yap Piang Kian, consultant endocrinologist; Datuk Dr Azhari Rosman, consultant cardiologist; A/Prof Dr Philip Poi, consultant geriatrician; Dr Hew Fen Lee, consultant endocrinologist; Prof Dr Low Wah Yun, psychologist; Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist; Dr Lee Moon Keen, consultant neurologist; Dr Ting Hoon Chin, consultant dermatologist; Prof Khoo Ee Ming, primary care physician; Dr Ng Soo Chin, consultant haematologist. For more information, e-mailstarhealth@thestar.com.my. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel provides this information for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel disclaims any and all liability for injury or other damages that could result from use of the information obtained from this article.