Australia's National Men's Health Strategy launched today
Minister for Health Greg Hunt launched a new National Men's Health Strategy today, following successful lobbying from the Australian Men's Health Forum (AMHF) and the men's health sector.
Calls for the new Men's Health Strategy, which places a strong focus on the health sector working to deliver more male-friendly services, gained momentum in 2015 when AMHF commissioned Associate Professor Gary Misan PhD to outline the case for reviving the 2010 Men's Health Policy.
Our "Call to action for men's health" paper contributed to the launch of the Male Health Initiative in 2017, which saw Andrology Australia, the Men's Health Information and Resource Centre, AMHF and Ten To Men receive Government funding. Work on the new Men's Health Strategy began in 2018 with many of our members and supporters taking part in the consultation process.
Today, Minister Hunt visited the Safety Beach-Dromana Men’s Shed south of Melbourne to launch the National Men's Health Strategy and announce $19.7 million of funding which included:
- $11.2 million for Men's Sheds over four years
- $3.8 million for research into the causes and prevention of male infertility
- $3 million to fund Andrology Australia (now renamed Healthy Male) until 2021
- $1.5 million over three years will be available to implement various key actions the Strategy to support health promotion initiatives and health literacy, improve health professionals’ knowledge and a literature review and development of strategies to increase men’s and boys’ engagement with the health system
The 10-year strategy (2020-2030) focuses on five priority health issues that affect men's health:
- Sexual and reproductive health and conditions
- Mental health
- Chronic conditions
- Injuries and risk taking
- Healthy ageing
The launch of the strategy came just a few hours after the PM, Scott Morrison, announced that Aussies will be heading to the polls on 18 May. As such, it isn't clear which political party will be in power when the new Men's Health Strategy takes effect in 2020.
The ALP, which launched Australia's first National Male Health Policy in 2010, has previously committed to updating and implementing the policy.
The launch of the National Men's Health Strategy follows the launch of the National Women's Health Strategy earlier this week.
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