Why a Men’s Health Strategy is needed now more than ever

We welcome the Government’s announcement that it will publish its first ever Men’s Health Strategy this year.

This is an important moment to bring men’s health to the fore, like never before. And it's a crucial step in making the case for timely diagnosis, better access to treatment and effective support for all men who are at risk or living with prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in England, with 55,000 men diagnosed in 2023. It's also the second most common cause of cancer death in men. To make sure the new Men’s Health Strategy works for these men, we’re calling on the Government to make the following key commitments.

Improve early diagnosis and health literacy

Prostate cancer often has no symptoms - and we know that 70 per cent of men will wait until symptoms get really bad before visiting their GP.  So it's vital that men are aware of their risk and feel empowered to speak to their GP about their options.  

It’s also important that healthcare professionals working in primary care get the right support - through updated guidelines and education - so they’re informed about prostate cancer risk factors and equipped to proactively discuss the pros and cons of testing with men at highest risk. That's Black men, men with a family history and genetic variations of the disease.

We also know too many men are being diagnosed too late for a cure - particularly Black men, who have higher rates of stage three and stage four prostate cancer diagnosis compared to white men, according to recent data from the National Prostate Cancer Audit.

Where a man lives also makes a difference. Because we also know that, in England, those living in less affluent areas are 29 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer than men living in wealthier parts of the country.

To get this right for men, we’re calling for the following solutions - which can be carried out quickly and easily, with high impact for men. The Government should:

• Update GP guidelines, such as the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP), to recommend GPs have proactive discussions with men at highest risk about their prostate cancer risk and PSA blood testing. These guidelines should also be updated to reflect the latest diagnostic pathway, including removal of unnecessary and ineffective tests - like the digital rectal exam (DRE), which puts men off speaking to their GP.

• Endorse our quick and easy online Risk Checker as the main source of patient information to support decision-making around prostate cancer and PSA blood testing. Our 30-second Risk Checker is accessible, easy to understand and supports men in making informed decisions about their prostate health.

• Fund prostate cancer risk awareness activity, targeting men at high risk as well as men living in parts of the country where we know rates of late-stage diagnosis are highest.

Ensure better access to treatments and support

Men over 50 are at higher risk of prostate cancer - and their risk increases as they get older. So, with an ageing population, there will be many men living with the disease in the future.

To make sure men are able to live well with prostate cancer, the Government must enable better access to treatment and support. This support must be personalised, timely and offered both during and after treatment. It must also meet men’s physical and mental health needs, while challenging taboos associated with the side effects of treatment.

The Government should:  

• Promote direct referrals into tailored support, such as our One-to-One Peer Support service, to help men navigate their prostate cancer journey. Living with cancer is often isolating, so it's important that men can speak to someone about their experiences, anxieties or concerns.
  
  
• Ensure services are accessible and meet men where they are. This could include, where feasible, developing men’s health 'hubs' to improve access to testing and scans in their local community.
  
  
• Improve equitable access to medicines. This includes establishing a standardised process for reviewing off-patent drugs in England and exploring reasons for poor take-up of NICE-approved treatments by Black men.

Establish leadership and commit to a funding investment

To meet the ambitions outlined above, we’re calling on the Government to invest in men’s health and establish the leadership that's needed to drive through these improvements.

The Government must make sure that:

• the Men’s Health Strategy appoints a Men’s Health 'Ambassador' to lead engagement with men and other key stakeholders, including regional engagement with system leaders, following the approach set out in the Women’s Health Strategy. The Ambassador must hear directly from healthcare professionals and different groups of men to understand how the strategy can improve men’s health.
  
  
• the Men’s Health Ambassador must work with local systems to identify opportunities for collaboration with stakeholders, like the voluntary sector, industry and others, to deliver the ambitions and actions set out in the strategy.
  
  
• the strategy has sufficient funding to meet its objectives. Funding is vital to make sure health services are fully accessible to men and that barriers to health-seeking behaviour are addressed.