Designing men's health policy: the 5R Framework

Despite growing awareness of gendered health inequalities, men remain under-represented in public health policy and practice. They have shorter life expectancy, higher preventable mortality, and lower engagement with health services compared with women, especially among groups living in marginalising conditions. To support system-level responses, we propose the 5R Framework (Research, Reach, Respond, Retain, and Relational) to guide the development of gender-responsive health systems. Each component offers direction for addressing men's needs through inclusive data, targeted engagement, tailored care, sustained participation, and equity-driven policy. The 5R Framework builds on earlier work for programme design by applying gender-transformative principles at a system level. The 5R Framework offers a strategic model for translating evidence into scalable, equitable policy and service reform.