From 30 ‘Mo Bros’ in 2003 to over 6 million ‘Mo Bros and Mo Sisters’, the global Movember charity campaign sees many people worldwide commit to supporting Movember during November. Famous for encouraging people to grow moustaches, the charity exists to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide.

Also in November, we will see the celebration of International Men’s Day on November 19th, celebrating the positive value men bring to the world, their families, and communities worldwide.

Launched in 1999 and now celebrated in more than 90 countries worldwide, International Men’s Day seeks to fulfill its 6 ‘pillar’ objectives:

1. To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sportsmen but everyday, working-class men who are living decent, honest lives.
2. To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, childcare, and to the environment.
3. To focus on men’s health and well-being; social, emotional, physical and spiritual.
4. To highlight discrimination against men; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law
5. To improve gender relations and promote gender equality
6. To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential.

This year’s theme is “Helping Men and Boys”, given that on November 20th, we celebrate International Children’s day, providing 48 hours of celebration for men and children and the special relationship they share.

These two campaigns share a focus on the health and well-being of men. They encourage individuals, organisations and businesses to be mindful of some of the health issues facing men. Hopefully, they also inspire business leaders to consider or what more they can do to support the health and welfare of their teams.

I appreciate that health and well-being are not gender-specific issues and the importance of diversity in society, and as a business, we continue to champion inclusivity. At the same time, it is essential to appreciate the challenges facing people and to highlight issues facing specific parts of our society; in this case, it is some of the specific well-being issues facing men.

It is also appropriate to be aware and proud that, to date, Ireland is only one of four countries worldwide that have adopted national male health policies; Australia, Brazil and Iran are the others.

According to the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI), which is a diverse network of individuals and organisations, men and women, “Men, on the island of Ireland, experience a disproportionate burden of ill-health.”

Current research tells us that:

• Men have a suicide rate 3 times higher than women
• 1 in 3 men have been the victims of domestic violence
• On average men die 4 years before women
• The incidence rate for all invasive cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) in Ireland is higher for males than for females
• Men are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease than women

Finally, 1 in 5 men will die before they reach retirement age, yet only 44% of businesses have workplace support strategies in place!

If your business does not have a workplace support strategy to support the health and well-being of your team, today is the day to start. To put our position in context, today is the day we will review everything we have in place; that data has also been a timely reminder for us.