Every three hours one New Zealand man dies of a preventable illness, and every 90 minutes one Kiwi dies from heart disease, and many of these are also preventable. For the sake of those who love us and depend on us, this has got to change. Here’s the good news though – we all have the power to make this change!

This Men’s Health Week we are focussing on the preventable issues we can control, and will be taking a good look at the health of our hearts in particular. A big thank you goes out to the Heart Foundation who are the Men’s Health Week health partner for 2017. Their mission is to STOP New Zealanders dying prematurely of heart disease and HELP people with heart disease to live full and productive lives. That sounds spot on to us at Men’s Health Week.

This year Men’s Health Week encourages guys all over the country to take the Accuro What’s Your Score? health check. It’s right here on the site. Challenge your mates during Men’s Health Week to get proactive and compete for the best health score.

Get a free men’s Pit Stop Health Check at participating Unichem or Life Pharmacy. Bring in your completed survey so you can talk to your pharmacist about your results and get a free blood pressure check too! Your pharmacist can also make further recommendations to you on how to look after your health. As Men’s Health Week ambassador Greg Murphy says, “Waiting could cost you the race!”

Small steps can lead to big changes. Healthy eating and just 30 minutes of daily exercise can prevent some cancers, depression, type 2 diabetes and can even keep your heart healthy and pumping away. Build your healthy foundations by reducing portion sizes, fats, salt sugar and alcohol and see how much better you feel for it! If you are stressed or your diet is not up to scratch a multivitamin can help. The only thing not to do is nothing.