Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for selecting this matter for debate this morning. Friday, 19 November is International Men's Day so this is an opportune time to consider issues concerning men's health. Men's Health Forum is an all-island network of individuals and organisations that have identified key concerns related to men's health and understanding these issues. There is a strong reason to keep a focus on men's health. Men and women continue to have different life expectancy rates, and health inequality among different subpopulations continues to feature. There is a substantial body of evidence supporting a gender-specific approach. It is imperative to build on the momentum and key milestones achieved over the past ten years.

A review of policy in the Department of Health and the HSE concludes that the policy has made significant progress in four key areas: promoting an increased focus on men's health research in Ireland; developing health promotion initiatives that support men in adopting positive health behaviours and increasing control over their lives; building social capital within communities for men; and the development and delivery of men's health training for health and other professionals. That is all positive. The HSE has funded a men's health forum to produce an Irish men's health report card, which represents an excellent body of work providing valuable statistics in the area of men's health. For example, the life expectancy of males increased from 77.3 years to 80.5 years between 2007 and 2018.

There is much evidence on the causes of health problems in men. Cancer is the number one cause of men's deaths in Ireland, and Ireland has the highest rate of diagnosis of prostate cancer in the EU. To be positive, this may reflect the use of prostate-specific antigen, PSA, screening, on which we are a leader. Cancer is the cause of 33% of all men's deaths. These include neoplasms of the larynx, trachea, bronchus and lungs and cancers of the prostate, pancreas and oesophagus. Testicular cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among males under the age of 45. The incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer has doubled since 1994. Thankfully, however, the mortality rate is low. The mortality rate associated with testicular cancer is low, and the survival rate has increased. Some 71% of heart disease cases in 2019 related to men. I refer in particular to coronary artery disease and coronary heart disease, which is a narrowing of the heart arteries. That is important to note. The male death rate associated with respiratory diseases has fallen, but the rate is still higher than the EU average.

Circumstances are improving but it is important to keep the focus on men's health to remind men - and, in many cases, to remind women to remind men, their loved ones - to look after their health and get regular checkups. In this vein, it is clear that we need to redouble our efforts and provide a new national men's health policy and action plan that would strive to build on the progress we have achieved to date. Maybe the Minister will comment on whether that is in train.