A NATIONAL medical week for men is to be launched after a six-year crusade by a Bury therapist.

Richard O' Neill (40), of Tamworth Drive, Brandlesholme, believed a downward slide in the general health of men needed to be tackled.

He found many men seemed wary of visiting their GPs, and he started a health information session in Bury targeted at such men.

A national Men's Health Week has been planned, starting on June 10, backed by the Government and with help from the Men's Health Forum charity, of which Mr O'Neill is a trustee.

The aim of the event is to heighten awareness of preventable health problems among men and boys and to encourage them to seek regular advice.

The Peel Health Centre in Bury will have nurses answering questions on cholesterol, offering health advice and checking blood pressure as part of a special medical MOT during the week.

" A lot of men are wary of the term 'clinic'," said Richard." A mechanical term like MOT is a lot less scary for many."

The need for a health week is supported by some shocking statistics such as the fact that more than half of men in the UK are overweight and a third are clinically obese.

"A lot of people in the South have this idea of Northern men as bitter swilling characters who don't want to be seen as soft by visiting the doctors," said Richard.

" In fact, there is a problem across the whole of the UK."

Richard said that interest in the event had snowballed since the launch at the Men's Health Conference, London in December. Scotland and Australia are both now holding similar weeks in June

Public Health Minister Yvette Cooper said: "The first Men's Health Week is a welcome new initiative."