A new report on men's health has found that many men in Ireland are dying too young of causes that are largely preventable.
The 130-page report is from a team at South East Technological University in Waterford and was commissioned by the charity Movember Ireland.
The 'Real Face of Men's Health' report says 40% of male deaths before the age of 75 are mostly premature.
It found that men in most deprived areas are 150% more likely to die before the age of 75 than those in less deprived areas.
Men's ill health costs over €1 billion a year, with €760 million of this probably preventable.
The report also finds there is a stigma around men seeking help, with GPs reporting that the barriers for men include a lack of time and a reluctance to discuss sensitive topics.
The five causes of the largest number of years of life lost to ill health for men here are coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and suicide.
Sarah Ouellette, Movember Country Manager, said that men's health is not only about men, but about families, carers and society as a whole.
The researchers say that on average, globally, men die younger than women.
Women spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in poor health and with disabilities compared to men.
The research found that men also fail engage pre-emptive medical interventions and screening programmes as early as women do.
'Groundbreaking report'
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Ouellette said that the state of male health in this country is "dire", describing the new report as groundbreaking, as it shines a light on the challenges facing men.
She added that men are more challenging patients for doctors because they tend to leave it longer to attend a surgery with problems and are less likely to open up about issues affecting them.
She added that many men think they do not need to see a GP, and in some cases do not want to know about their ill health.
"Stoicism is one. So the idea that 'I don't need to look at my health. I'm fine, I'm grand' but also the idea; could this have an impact on my career, if I'm ill? Also the idea of self reliance and 'I don't want to put anybody else out'," she said.
She added that short GP appointments also present problems for men.
She said that it tens to take men longer to open up about their problems, and it might be the last few minutes of an appointment that potentially a man is going to talk about certain issues.
She called on the Government to look at ways to scale up outreach programmes that are working and examine why men are not engaging with early screening programmes or the health system.
She said that suicide is the biggest killer of young men here and "it is a crisis".
"GPs that we spoke to, 97% of them said that they had, in the last year, spoken to a man in their practice who had suicidal ideation or was talking about suicidal behaviour, but only 14% of those GPS felt very confident supporting that man," she said.
