International Men’s Health Week commences on the 14^th of June and runs until Sunday 20th June. The overall aim of Men’s Health Week is to heighten awareness of preventable health problems for males of all ages, support men and boys to engage in healthier lifestyle choices /activities and to encourage the early detection and treatment of health difficulties in males. This year’s theme is “Making the Connections”. Throughout Men’s Health Week, everyone is asked to begin this process of “Making the connections”, and to “Check in”, “Check Up” and “Check it Out”.

During Men’s Health Week we hosted a webinar on the topic “HIV and the Role of the Community Pharmacy” with guest speaker Adam Shanley, MPOWER Programme Manager at HIV Ireland. Adam discussed HIV and its disproportionate impact on gay and bisexual men, the pharmacist's role in HIV testing technologies and HIV prevention medications, and he gave useful hints, tips, and guidance on how best to interact with gay and bisexual men when it comes to their sexual health and wellbeing needs at the pharmacy. To watch the webinar please contact our marketing team at udwmarketing@united-drug.com

The rate of HIV diagnosis among men in Ireland is on the rise. The number of males diagnosed in Ireland with HIV has significantly increased in the last 10 years. In 2009 males diagnosed with HIV was 258 whereas in 2018 males diagnosed with HIV rose to 411.( https://www.hivireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018_HIV-Know-the-Facts_Single_Pages_Web.pdf). Early diagnosis and treatment are essential in ensuring HIV positive people continue to live a long and fulfilling life.

Ireland has the highest rate of diagnosed prostate cancer in the EU. This means that 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. On average 3,890 men get diagnosed each year with prostate cancer. Five Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer include a painful or burning sensation during urination or ejaculation, frequent urination, particularly at night, difficulty stopping or starting urination, sudden erectile dysfunction and blood in urine or semen. Prostate cancer can be treated with active surveillance, external beam radiotherapy, hormone therapy, brachytherapy, surgery, chemotherapy.

Ischaemic Heart Disease is heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries. The proportion of deaths due to ischaemic heart disease is higher for males than for females. 71% of ischaemic heart diseases cases were male in 2019. There are several ways you can reduce your risk of Ischaemic Heart Disease such as eat a healthy, balanced diet, be more physically active, keep to a healthy weight, give up smoking, reduce your alcohol consumption and keep your blood pressure under control.

Improving men’s health outcomes is a two way process involving men, women, families, and health services combined. It is important that men make use of health services to preventatively manage their health and find out before it is too late if problems do exist. Understanding health risks is one thing. Taking action to reduce your risks is another. Start by making healthy lifestyle choices. The impact might be greater than you will ever know.

To find out more about Men’s Health visit https://www.mhfi.org/.