This contributes nothing to the subject. It's yet another harangue, not well written, and will achieve nothing. The author should think a lot harder before launching into print.

"Maybe awful statistic[sic] will prod men to action. Then again, maybe not."

Probably not Mr Ariel - especially if they're like me.

Firstly, I don't have much respect for statistics from the academic/pseudo-science crowd because they always fail to take into account that I'm an individual and not just a part of their statistical sub-sets.

And secondly, because I'm tired of being nagged at by bothersome do-gooders, who constantly harass me to be like them. Go away, you're not doing my health any good at all, Mr Ariel, in fact you're causing me stress.

"...three of the four experts felt that recognizing and preventing men's health problems is not just a man's issue (there's those pernickety, academic, so-called experts again). Because of its wider impact: its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men's health is truly a family issue. Or better still, society's issue."

Ah well, indeed, so now we're getting to the point.

It seems here, that I being a man, my health is "society's issue" - read responsibility. That really means, that I have a reciprocal responsibility to society, to be a good little slave and do as I'm told, and take care of my health. I'm supposed to fit into one of their politically correct, statistical sub-sets, so as I don't become a burden on society - my boss. And of course, possibly causing grief and financial loss to all those women folk the experts referred to as well.

It's curious that the experts didn't consider the impact on fathers, sons and brothers.

Now, that's where all this noise about men's health is really coming from. It's concern that the slave is having fun, being reckless and impacting on society, being a man, and we can't have that, because we need him to keep slaving for the benefit of society for as long as possible.

But of course, not all men are like me. We're all individuals.

As a fifty-something male, I am getting more and more sympathetic to Rumpole of the Bailey, who was quoted as saying, in effect: "Why give up a bottle of wine now in return for another day of life as a miserable ninety-year-old?" There are more important things than eking out another few days of existence; it's the quality of your life, not the quantity, which counts. Use common sense by all means, but let's not fret obsessively about our bowels and prostates to the extent that life itself becomes a burden.

Silly me.

"And for those men whose visit to the family doctor is so rare it almost warrants an anniversary to celebrate it, this book is more than vital."

I tend to go to see my GP when I'm sick. It has now been made clear to me that this is in fact wrong, and I should go see her when I'm well.

What would we talk about?

While it's a pity to spoil a nice argument with a fact or two, the situation is that Australian men live longer and healthier than ever before. At 79.4 years, Australian male life expectancy from birth is one of the best in the world. One wonders why the author chose to use US statistics when Australian data are readily available.

The public health industry is becoming a major threat to democracy in this country. Proposals such as the recent one to limit the size of restaurant meal portions, for example, deny the right and responsibility of individuals to make their own decisions about their lives. To paraphrase (badly) John Stuart Mill, governments should act to protect citizens from the threats posed by others. That's why we have laws against assault, fraud and robbery etc. But governments must on no account act to protect citizens from themselves.An individual's right and responsibility to decide about his own life is one of the fundamental elements of a healthy democracy.

Most of the posts here are correct.

The article comes across as a hit about the head and shoulder region for men.

THE AIFS had a history of being heavily feminist influenced, and though of men as being the source of all evil.

But it was found that nearly every program run by the AIFS that involved men had failed.

Now the AIFS has eventually found a recipe for effective practice involving men, and their 8 principles for working effectively with men
could also be used for men's health

1.The importance of perceived equality.
2.The existence of ‘window periods’ where men access support.
3.The need for men’s services to be distinguished from general services.
4.The value of personal recommendation about services.
5.The importance of flexible service delivery.
6.Client involvement in program development.
7.The solution focussed approach.
8.Local area coordination.

http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/families/pubs/documents/working_men/sec1.htm#t4

The solution focussed approach was found to be very effective.

This means that instead of berating men, they instead define a problem and then let men find the answer themselves.

Totally the opposite to what men normally receive, which is a long drawn out lecture on how evil they are, and how oppressive they are, and how wrong they are in every possible way.