Male health: facts, determinants and national and South Australian policy responses

Abstract

There is a growing interest in and concern about male health, both in Australia and overseas. There will be increasing prompting of government and NGO health policy and planning authorities to take up the challenge of making an appreciable difference to male health outcomes. Essential to this must be a gender appreciative approach (which has proven successful for women’s health), an approach that appropriately addresses the crucial determinants and particular needs of male health. This will require little more than modest funding along with the creative utilisation and adjustment of existing resources. However, perhaps the most fundamental prerequisite for progress in male health is that we actually value males and their indispensable contribution to the Australian community.