COUNCILS are calling for the creation of a national men’s health strategy, warning that those in deprived areas are living up to a decade less than their counterparts in wealthier communities.

A report by the Local Government Association (LGA) warns that such men face a “silent health crisis,” with higher rates of cancers, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

It says that stark inequalities lead to men in deprived areas dying 10 years earlier — and facing a 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy —  than residents of affluent areas.