Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to change attitudes to personal health issues among men.

We recognise that men do not seek medical help as often as women, and their health can suffer as a result and that changing their behaviours could reduce premature death, illness and costs to society. The Department does not have a separate policy approach to men’s health as all policy subjects are expected to take into account equality issues as they are developed.

In 2013, Public Health England was established to protect and improve the nation’s health and to address inequalities, working with national and local government, the National Health Service, industry, academia, the public and the voluntary and community sector. Local authorities are responsible for assessing the current and future health needs of their local population and targeting of interventions to reduce health inequalities. We have also given local authorities the flexibility to innovate and tailor services to meet local individual and population needs.