While woman's health has been a common and often discussed subject in media and public, men's health has attracted far less attention. Lack of adequate organisations, public awareness and belief that men don't need any kind of support have produced a situation where the vast majority of men are pretty unaware of risks to their health and the ways they can prevent this.
More than a million men get prostate cancer annually
Each year 1,1 million men are affected by prostate cancer and on average this results in over 300 thousand men's deaths every year. Lung cancer, though hardly only a man's misfortune, is far more likely to develop among the men, with a lifetime risk of developing lung cancer being 8% among the men and only 6% among the woman.
Despite this very few government programs specifically, address men's health concerns and the amount of government spending on this issues is negligible. The situation is further exasperated by unhealthy living habits of modern man, consumption of alcohol and smoking, bad diet and lack of exercise.
Fundraiser gathers millions
Although Movember is a nice gesture and good example how public attention can be focused on men's health, this is not enough to seriously change the negative trends men face currently. Since Movember was first launched in 2004, the campaign which hopes to raise the funds by encouraging men to grow moustaches during the month of November has gathered around $174 million.
This money was used to promote awareness about the prostate and other forms of cancer, their early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment. However, the limited amount of resources has prevented Movember from making a greater impact. In the developed world, each year cancer is taking away ever greater number of lives and men are particularly vulnerable category.
In order to make serious changes, greater involvement by the government and NGO's would be necessary. Growing moustaches might bring public attention to this topic, but only sustained and effective government campaign can achieve real and sustainable results that can reverse the growing threat of cancer.