Forward Together – Calling for a Scottish Men’s Health Strategy

The SMSA is delighted to hear that the UK Government has unveiled England’s first-ever Men’s Health Strategy today on International Men’s Day (Wednesday 19th November 2025).

This landmark plan sets out to tackle the physical and mental health challenges faced by men and boys, invest in suicide prevention, and reduce long-standing inequalities. A hugely positive step.

We warmly welcome this development and hope to see Scotland follow suit with a dedicated strategy of our own. Together with our men’s health partners and research bodies like Glasgow Caledonian University, we’ll ensure this is raised with the Scottish Government – because men and boys across Scotland deserve the chance to live longer, healthier lives with access to tailored healthcare and support.

For the past 10 years, the SMSA has consistently highlighted these health inequalities with the Scottish Government. While their investment in a Scottish Women’s Health Champion rightly recognised that different genders have distinct support needs, men’s health remains under-supported. The recent Scottish Parliament SPICe briefing on men’s mental health underscores this urgent need, highlighting gaps in services and the investment required to address them.

The SMSA, as Scotland’s leading men’s health and wellbeing charity, again calls upon The Scottish Government to look at the plight we find ourselves in with no men and boys health policy nor the required investment, as experienced in other countries through the Men’s Sheds Movement, creating the self-empowered opportunities of wellbeing for men.

Forward together.