Taking the message that men need to be more aware of the importance of looking after their health, directly to the workplace, has just received a major shot in the arm thanks to TOWER Limited, one of New Zealand’s leading investment and insurance companies.Men’s Health Trust New Zealand has signed a three year corporate sponsorship with TOWER, which will help fund the Trust’s workplace programme.
Men in New Zealand live on average, four years less than women, and death rates for Maori men are double that of non-Maori.
Nearly a quarter of men smoke, over 50 percent are overweight, 27 percent indulge in potentially hazardous drinking, and two die each day of preventable illnesses.
It’s these unacceptably negative statistics that the Men’s Health Trust New Zealand is committed to improving by talking directly to men in their workplaces.
"New Zealand men go to see a doctor three times less often than women, and men in general lack awareness of the importance of health screening to help detect preventable diseases and deaths, from conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease,” says Dr Graeme Washer, Trustee and medical consultant to the Trust.
Men are also over represented in the areas of high cholesterol and suicide. The suicide rate for Maori males is 30 percent higher than the rest of the population.
The chairman of Men’s Health Trust New Zealand, Colleen Thurston, says the corporate sponsorship with TOWER is critically important to the success of the Trust’s workplace initiatives.
“This is a wonderful and very significant step forward as it helps the Trust take its workplace awareness program to more companies, which is a major goal for us,” Colleen Thurston says.
Rob Flannagan, TOWER’s Managing Director, says “this sponsorship sees TOWER enhance its social responsibility within an important segment of our society. It is very well aligned to the company’s workplace markets in which we offer life and health insurance as well as Kiwisaver to employees of over 700 companies, many of which have predominantly male workforces.
TOWER’s association with these companies makes us an ideal partner to assist the Trust raise the awareness of men’s health within the workplace,“ Mr Flannagan says.
The Men’s Health Trust New Zealand was formed three years ago to address these serious men’s health problems, and to actively encourage New Zealand men to take more personal responsibility for their own physical and mental well being.
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