From mental health to endocrine disorders: the range of specialist services offered by ‘men’s’ hospitals is expanding

No longer just ‘gender-specific’ conditions such as classic urological and andrological disorders, but also clinical areas that have traditionally been neglected to date, yet which risk affecting health and wellbeing precisely because they are diagnosed late: such as cancers of the reproductive system and male breast, mental and neurological health, and autoimmune endocrinological and rheumatological conditions. The new Bollino Azzurro 2027–2028 call for applications, dedicated to men and promoted by Fondazione Onda Ets, has been completely revamped in terms of both content and assessment criteria.

On average, men live shorter lives than women, with a gap of around four years; only 17.4 per cent of centenarians are men. They tend to start preventive care later and are more likely to seek medical help only once the illness has already manifested itself.

Launched in 2021 to address this challenge, the Bollino Azzurro is a biennial award given to public and private hospitals and care homes accredited by the National Health Service that stand out for providing services dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of men’s health conditions, and for adopting care pathways that take sex and gender differences into account. Today, the national network comprises 156 hospitals spread across the whole of Italia.

“For over twenty years, the Fondazione Onda Ets has been promoting a culture of health that takes sex and gender differences into account,” explains its president, Francesca Merzagora. “ Through the Bollino Azzurro, as recently updated, we aim to recognise hospitals that invest in dedicated services, multidisciplinary care pathways and innovative organisational models, whilst at the same time offering the public a practical tool to help them choose the facilities best suited to their healthcare needs. This benefit is particularly relevant to women, who in most cases are the primary carers in the family and who, thanks to the Bollino Azzurro, will be able to find practical information on the hospital services best suited to their husband, partner or father. Looking after women’s health means, in this respect too, giving them the tools to look after those close to them.”

The revamp of the Bollino Azzurro stems from the realisation that men’s health requires a broader approach than one focused solely on urological and andrological conditions, in line with the principles of gender-specific medicine. Alongside diseases of the urinary tract, services dedicated to cancers of the reproductive system and male breast cancer will be promoted: the latter accounts for less than 1 per cent of all breast cancers and, due to a lack of awareness of the condition, is frequently diagnosed at more advanced stages than is the case in women. Services dedicated to mental and neurological health will also be offered: for example, the suicide rate among men is approximately three times higher than that among women. The third call for proposals for the Bollino Azzurro will also focus on endocrine and autoimmune rheumatic diseases which, although they predominantly affect women (around 8 out of 10 patients), can present with more severe clinical forms in men, such as in rheumatoid arthritis (often associated with more joint erosion and a poorer prognosis) and systemic lupus erythematosus (more frequently characterised by renal, cardiovascular and neurological involvement, with a generally more severe course), as well as being diagnosed later.