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Health Issues for Men in NZ

Health links below

Mr Rod Humpage of North Health confirms that discrimination against middle-class white males is deliberate. "They are the ones who have been accessing these services predominantly for the last 20 years - the emphasis is now to redress the balance", he says.
North Shore Harbour News, 14 Sept 1995.

'Gendered approaches to health policy - how does this impact on men's health?' Despite higher rates of disease and mortality rates, men are missing out on health care because a gender focussed health policy favours women. Dr Felicity Goodyear-Smith and Stuart Birks argue in a study published in the New Zealand Family Physician for a needs-based funding policy. (Download paper) [102 KB PDF]
Massey News (link to press release) 10 March 2003.


Reduced Health Funding for men? At the end of 1998 we received an information kit for a 'Women's Health Policy National Consultation', put together by Teenah Handiside, national co-ordinator of the Federation of Women's Health Councils - Aotearoa New Zealand. It claims that women need more resources because "they live longer and they are more frequent users of health services."
MENZ Issues January 1999.


Men's Health Day - a great success! Congratulations are due to all those men who worked together to make the Men's Centre North Shore's first Health Day the great success that it was. The courtyard of Glenfield Community Centre proved ideal for the static displays on what turned out to be the first sunny Saturday of spring. A series of lectures, workshops and displays on topics such as Stress, Nutrition, Lifestyle, Fitness, Work and Sport Injury, Alcohol and Drugs, Sexual Health, Cancers and Heart Disease kept the 70 men and women who paid the nominal $5 registration engrossed all day.
MENZ Issues October 1996.


Submissions on the North Health Discussion Document 'The Health of Men' My main concern with the document is two-fold: first, the way in which the concept of traditional masculinity has been put forward to explain the statistics along with associated proposals on how this masculinity must be changed; second, the poor recognition of realistic structural and practical ways in which men's health can be immediately improved.
Submissions by Mark Rowley February 1996.


Links to NZ health-related websites and articles:

Stuart Birks' Men's Health Links
Stuart has some more health papers here


PASS The Prostate Awareness and Support Society What is this prostate thing? How do you know you have prostate cancer? What is the risk and how is it checked? What happens after the tests? When diagnosed what are the treatments? Listed contacts in NZ areas, and recommended books to read.


Father Suicide - The Last Taboo Keith Rankin's Thursday Column: "We are starting to acknowledge that suicide is a topic that must be discussed and discussed openly. But in New Zealand almost all the media references are to youth suicide. However in 1998 - the latest year for which New Zealand suicide statistics have been published - 57 percent of suicides were by men aged over 25.......If we cannot sympathise with men who are no longer fathers to their children, we must at least learn to empathise with them. The last taboo is the suicide of fathers. Fathers, like pilots, are prone to taking others with them when they commit suicide. By sneering at the very real moral dilemmas that estranged fathers face, we - the adjudicating public, the audience that Paul Holmes plays to - help to create the mental illnesses that cause so much tragedy."


Child Sexual Abuse by Female Offenders When you speak of child sexual abuse most people will think of men raping girls. They might then think of men raping boys, but that's as far as it generally goes. But this is not the whole story. There are a frighteningly high number of children who are sexually abused by women....There are a lot of studies which indicate a far higher incidence of female offending than society is comfortable with, here are just a few.


Men's Health Centre Information on:


NZ Health Online Includes contact details for public hospitals and health support groups throughout NZ, Nutrition Awareness with Dr John Birkbeck, and a series of Health Guides.


NZ Health and Safety Net The home page of the Occupational Safety and Health Service of the NZ Department of Labour.


Mental Health Foundation of NZ Informative material on topics including: disorders; treatments; resources; support groups and organisations; media issues; events; prevention; discrimination; self help; advocacy; policy and statistics. Site is designed to provide information for all age groups and backgrounds, with particular interest for the New Zealand audience.


Christchurch Men's Medical Clinic A medical centre for men with a special interest in men's health problems. For example prostate disease, obesity, heart disease, erectile dysfunction etc.


CommunityNet Aotearoa Internet resources to encourage and support the strengthening of communities throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand. Note the difference in links to women's / feminist websites, compared to those for men. A link to this site (menz.org.nz) appeared for a few months in late 1999, but by early 2000 it had mysteriously disappeared.


Links to International Sites:

US National Library of Medicine Medline plus Health Information. Latest international Men's Health News.


Men's Health Network (USA) An Informational and Educational Organisation Recognising Men's Health as a Specific Social Concern.


Queensland University of Technology. Public Health Resources on the Internet - a page of links.


Australian Men's Health Network Network aims to spread news about men's health services and to act as a forum for discussion of men's health issues.


Knowledge Exchange Network USA Center for Mental Health Services.- Information, news, includes kid's area.


Internet Mental Health Our goal is to improve understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness throughout the world. Online diagnosis, Information, Magazine.


USA National Prostate Cancer Coalition Awareness, Outreach, Advocacy. Lots of information and support including a newsletter and message board.


American Cancer Society Learn about different types of cancer, risk factors, prevention, treatment, and more. You can also get recent news about cancer. Includes detailed profiles of a specific types of cancer to make informed choices about treatment.


The Prostate Cancer Charity UK The Prostate Cancer Charity has one primary objective which is to improve the care and welfare of people whose lives are affected by prostate cancer. We achieve this by carrying out and funding patient orientated prostate cancer research and by providing a nationwide support and information service.