Gender gap? It’s men who fare worse

LeT’S talk about the ‘ gender health gap’ — because everyone else seems to be. Are women really discriminated against in healthcare provision because it is inherently male-focused?

Feminist critics point to the fact that fewer women participate in clinical trials, which means the results disproportionately relate to men. As a result, drug doses are based on the average male weight and body composition.

There is also some evidence to suggest that women are less likely to complain of pain in case they are seen as ‘hysterical’ or a ‘hypochondriac’.

Such observations detract from the reality — and it isn’t what you think. Yes, there is a horrific gender health gap but it’s this. Men die on average nearly four

years earlier than women. I doubt if there is any clearer evidence of inequality than that stark statistic.

It equates to millions of male years of life lost each generation compared to women.

Men are more likely to die from all the common cancers that affect both sexes. And more men die now from prostate cancer (11,819 according to Prostate Cancer uK 2018 figures) than breast cancer each year (11,442).

Yet since 2002, breast cancer has attracted more than double the investment for research and treatment than has prostate cancer.

When it comes to mental health, men are significantly more likely to kill themselves than women, but less likely to receive treatment for depression or anxiety.

They are also more likely to drink or use drugs.

Can you imagine the outcry and claims of medical misogyny if it was the other way around?

The evidence is clear: it’s men, not women, who are getting a raw deal in healthcare.