It is remarkable to see the rapid increase in interest in the health of men since the mid-1980s. We have moved from a position where there was almost complete silence on the subject, an absence that was reflected not only in policy and clinical practice but also within the academic community, to this now being recognized as an area of major importance. The epidemiological data are compelling, with men showing higher levels of premature mortality in nearly all diseases that should affect men and women equally, more deaths as a result of suicide and risk taking and with an increased vulnerability to worsening social conditions, not just in.
