Men’s Health in NSW Planning Meeting August 13 1pm – 3.30pm
Conference Room B Level 4 Ozanam Learning Centre, 99 Forbes Street Woolloomooloo
Dear MHFNSW Members and Supporters,
The NSW Ministry of Health will not be replacing the current NSW Men’s Health Action Plan with another plan or policy. New South Wales was the first government in the world in 1999 to produce a men’s health policy, which was followed in 2009 by the current NSW Men’s Health Action Plan which expired at the end of June this year. We know do not have any men’s health policy, plan or framework in place.
They have also announced that the Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre (MHIRC) based at Richmond in the University of Western Sydney will not have their current funding renewed as it has been since 1999 – instead men’s health work in NSW will be put out tender. This new tendering approach could spread men’s health and wellbeing work to potentially many organisations without experience in men’s health work and without any network or central organising body.
There can be no doubt that the current state of men’s health in Australia is very poor compared to women’s health. Men take their own lives at four times the rate of women (that’s five men a day, on average). Accidents, cancer and heart disease all account for the majority of male deaths and males die five years earlier than women from many preventable illnesses. MHIRC focuses particularly on the health status of marginalised or disadvantaged males – like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, unemployed men, separated men, incarcerated men, new dads and other males who may find themselves at risk of increased stress and therefore poorer health outcomes.
NSW was the leader in implementing a men’s health policy which has been the template for other policies at a national level both in Australia and Ireland. Why would NSW cease to fund the body they have worked with for over 14 years and which has, at little expense, brought considerable acclaim and positive media attention to the State?
MHIRC has an international reputation for working men’s and boys’ health. They have been consulted by, have held joint policy workshops with the Men’s Health Forum of England and Wales and been consulted by the European Men’s Health Forum, the US Men’s Health Network, and the International Society of Men’s Health on issues and policy around male health. MHIRC’s experiences of coordinating Men’s Health Week in Australia has provided a template for how other organisations could coordinate such a week. MHIRC has achieved this for comparatively little money (less than the cost of 2 hospital bed nights per year).
There can be no doubt that the current state of men’s health in Australia is very poor compared to women’s health.
NSW was the leader in implementing a men’s health policy which has been the template for other policies at a national level both in Australia and Ireland. Why would NSW cease to fund the body they have worked with for over 14 years and which has, at little expense, brought considerable acclaim and positive media attention to the State?
The purpose of the Planning Meeting is to
· discuss these changes and the challenges and opportunities they present
· plan a strategy for working towards creating a new NSW Men’s Health Plan
· discuss the tendering situation and it’s affects on the men’s health, wellbeing and relationships area in NSW
We hope you can attend this important Planning Meeting
RSVP by August 12th to info@menshealthforumnsw.org.au
The Men’s Health in NSW Planning Meeting will follow the SDOHA Public ForumPutting the Social Determinants on the Political Agenda
Tuesday, August 13, commencing 10.30 am – 12.15 pm Ozanam Learning Centre, 99 Forbes Street Woolloomooloo
The Men’s Health Forum of NSW Inc. is a member of the Social Determinants of Health Alliance.
Please find attached flyers for our meeting and the SDOHA Public Forum on August 13 at the same venue.
Source: Meeting Flyer (http://mhaweb.squarespace.com/storage/files/MHFNSW%20Men%27s%20Health%20NSW%20Planning%20Meeting%20August%2013%20Sydney.pdf )
Source: SDOHA Flyer (http://mhaweb.squarespace.com/storage/files/SDOHA%20forum%2013%20August.pdf )
