THIS week is Men’s Health Week.

Globally, men die on average six years earlier than women, and for reasons that are largely preventable.

Which means that it doesn’t have to be that way: we can all take action to live healthier, happier and longer lives.

Some men don’t like asking for help, but we are encouraging you to reach out if you need to. Speak to a friend, family member or colleague.

Men's health includes conditions that only affect men, such as prostate cancer and low testosterone.

Prostate cancer kills 10,000 men in the UK every year. Prostate Cancer UK is available for support and information.

The prostate is a gland. It is usually the size and shape of a walnut and grows bigger as you get older.

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It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra, which is the tube that carries urine out of the body.

The prostate's main job is to help make semen – the fluid that carries sperm.

So for this year’s Men’s Health Week, which runs from June 13 to 19, we are asking all men to give themselves a health MOT.

Raj Verma, associate medical director at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Some men don’t like asking for help, but we are encouraging you to reach out if you need to. Speak to a friend, family member or a colleague and see your GP if you have any health related concerns."

Why do men need an MOT?

While we've been focused on the pandemic we've taken our eyes off other serious conditions.

We know early stage cancer diagnoses fell by third in first lockdown and that shortfall has continued. Macmillan reckon that around 50,000 of us have missed a cancer diagnosis during the pandemic.

Prostate cancer diagnoses, for example, were down 29 per cent between 2019 and 2020. That's not because prostate cancer is getting rarer (it isn't), but because men weren't seeing their GPs to begin to get diagnosed. Indeed, male GP visits fell more than female visits.

There were good reasons for this fall during lockdown but not now.

Meanwhile, NHS Health Checks, which should be offered to most people over 40, were paused during Covid. They restarted in April 2022. 
All of this gives us even more reason to keep an eye on our own bodies and minds and give ourselves an MOT.

Our message to men

It's a simple one: it's time for your MOT.

  • Take notice of what's going on in your body and mind. 
  • Do the Forum's quick and easy DIY Man MOT
  • Get an NHS Health Check
  • Go and see your GP or use NHS 111 if you're concerned about any symptoms

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