Ellissar Mokadim, edited by Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: JEFF PACHOUD / AFP 06:44, November 04, 2023

November is synonymous with "Movember", Men's Disease Awareness Month. This is an important initiative because men go to the doctor less than women, to the detriment of their deteriorating health. According to INSEE, in 88, 2019% of women had consulted a general practitioner for less than a year, compared to 80% of men.

November is Men's Disease Awareness Month, better known as "Movember". Many men refuse to go to a doctor to the detriment of their health, which eventually deteriorates. In 2019, 80% of men had visited a general practitioner for less than a year, compared to 88% of women. The percentage is even lower when it comes to a medical specialist.

"We're also a bit lazy to go to the doctor"

According to the INSEE survey, nearly one in two men has not been there in the past year. This is the case for Alain, 58, who has only consulted three specialists in his life: "When things are going well, we don't care and we don't do prevention. We're also a bit lazy to go to the doctor and while we're doing well, we put it off until the day we think it's time to do something."

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Unlike men, women have been used to seeing a doctor since they were young, especially at the gynecologist. "Men's health is a real taboo," says Benjamin Pradère, a member of the French Association of Urology. "They don't like to talk about male pathologies because they affect men who prefer to keep it to themselves and they don't dare to go to the doctor."

As a result, therapeutic management "is going to be more difficult than when we take care of diseases earlier". As a result, the doctor regrets, men's life expectancy can be affected by this lack of prevention.