National Mens's Health Week LogoContinuing our series of special articles for National Men’s Health Week, Strenua’s World is looking at the health issues for men of minorities. The men in the UK make up a diverse group, their social class, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and age are just a few of the factors that impact men’s use of health services. An aim of this week is to encourage all men not to be embarrassed about seeking help and to make them aware of the health issues important to them and also to the range of services that are there for all men in the community.

Depending on your ethnic background you are at risk of different diseases and illnesses.  Men from groups at risk should be aware of the symptoms, how to further reduce the risks and how to go about getting testing and treatment. In 1999 Health Survey for England, found that compared with the general population there were:

  • Higher rates of angina and heart attacks reported by Indian (50%), Bangladeshi and Irish men.
  • Higher rates of stroke by Black Caribbean (50%), Bangladeshi and Indian men
  • Higher rates of diabetes in men from all ethnic minority groups.
  • Increased obesity in Irish men, whilst men from South Asia and China were less likely to be obese.
  • Nearly twice as many Bangladeshi men were likely to smoke.
  • Less alcohol consumed by men all minority ethnic groups except the Irish
  • And as we mentioned yesterday African Caribbean men are 3 times more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men.  

Black and ethnic minority men are also less likely to seek help for mental health problems from services. Yet the department of health’s  2002 statistics on ethnic minority psychiatric illness rates in the community found that all ethnic minority groups had higher than average incidences of psychiatric illness amongst men.  Studies show 7 times higher rates of new diagnosis of psychosis among Black Caribbean people than among the White British. Incidences in Pakistani and Irish men aged 35-54 was 21% compared to 10% of Whites and 20% of 55-74 year old Bangladeshi men suffered from psychiatric illness compared to 11% of White British men.

For these men from minority groups it’s not just getting them to access the health services that is the difficult issue. Treatment of diseases such as leukaemia with a stem cell or bone marrow transplant is more difficult in patients from ethnic backgrounds. Of the 120,000 patients around the world who need a bone marrow transplant, 2 out of 3 Caucasian patients will find a donor yet it can be as low as 1 in 4 non Caucasians, due to the lack of ethnic and mixed raced donors on the register.

It’s not only ethnic minority groups who are reluctant to access traditional health services. Gay and bisexual men are hesitant to use traditional primary care services because of experiences of homophobia. These groups of men however, experience many factors that affect their emotional wellbeing   through coming out, accepting their sexuality and being open and honest with other people. They also need to feel comfortable approaching services if they suffer from physical abuse or harassment. Without support these issues can lead to depression, anger, mental distress and even self harm.

Gay and bisexual men also have to be aware of their sexual health. In major UK cities 1 in 10 men are living with HIV. However, you don’t need to only go to your GP to access sexual health services and screenings. Most cities have clinics for gay and bisexual men with the opportunity to get full sexual health check-ups.

Whatever your ethnic background, if you are interested in becoming a donor and joining the bone marrow register visit http://www.anthonynolan.org.uk

For information on mental health visit http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Advice for gay or bisexual men on all matters including mental and sexual health can be found at the lesbian and gay foundation website http://www.lgf.org.uk



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