New gender-specific health care

NRW promotes gender-specific health care

20/08/2011

Men and women are often very different health problems. However, these differences are only marginally considered in medical care. Therefore, the state government in North Rhine-Westphalia wants to invest six million euros, which should flow into projects for gender-specific health care.

As the Ministry of Health North Rhine-Westphalia announced on Friday in Dusseldorf, in the medical treatment of women and men often no differences are made. However, the health complaints, the disease symptoms and the course of the disease are often very different in terms of gender, which should be taken into account in health care, explained the North Rhine-Westphalian Health Minister Barbara Steffens (Alliance 90 / The Greens). For this reason, the state government plans to invest six million euros in gender-specific health care projects.

Gender differences in disease progression
According to the Ministry of Health of North Rhine-Westphalia, there is a need for gender-specific treatment, especially in the case of heart attacks, depression and obesity. For example, according to the ministry, women have a heart attack about ten years later than men, but they end up more often deadly, which is urgently to be considered in medical care. In overweight, however, significantly more men than women are affected. While half of adult men in this country are struggling with weight problems, this affects only one third of women. Also find this aspect „far too little in prevention and rehabilitation“ Attention, emphasized Barbara Steffens. In the case of depression, the gender differences are also very pronounced, according to the Minister of Health. Two to three times more women than men are due to the mental illness in treatment, however, the suicide rate is significantly higher in the depressive men.

Differences between men and women in depression
Current studies justify these gender-specific differences in depression at least in part with the significantly higher willingness of female patients to seek medical help. Thus, the disease is more often recognized as such in women and the diagnosis time is usually in a much earlier stage of disease, which favors a successful therapeutic treatment, experts from the German Society for Men and Health (DGMG) explained in a recent interview with the news agency „dpa“. According to the DGMG, men often suppress their psychological problems, with fatal consequences, as the increased suicide rate of depressive men confirms. In the Lower Saxon town of Sehnde near Hanover, a day clinic for depressive men has been opened at the beginning of the year to take into account the gender-specific differences in depression. Similar projects can now be funded in North Rhine-Westphalia with the available six million euros.

Special health care for women and men
The opposition in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, however, accused the state government of focusing too much on the support of women in its current plans, while men's health care tends to be in the background. However, in the view of the health policy spokesman of the FDP parliamentary group, Stefan Romberg, also from the „by more than five years shorter life expectancy of men compared to women“ out. In his view, gender-specific health care is far too short among men. However, the state government certainly has the option to promote projects such as the above-mentioned day clinic for depressed men with the money made available. Overall, the approach of promoting gender-based healthcare through public money is therefore welcome. (Fp)

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Image: Gerd Altmann / Shapes: dezignus.com