A century ago, there were less than two years between men’s and women’s life expectancies in the United States. Today, that gender gap has almost tripled, with men dying 5.3 years earlier than women in 2023. Yet despite the disparity, there’s no focused public health campaign to address men’s early deaths or much conversation about why this is happening.

Men’s shorter life expectancy is widely accepted as the norm even though, as historical data show, this large gap is far from a given. “There’s nothing inevitable or inexorable about the lifespan gender gap, it rises and falls based on public policy decisions,” said Ronald Henry, president of the Men’s Health Network, a non-profit.

While Covid-19 and “deaths of despair,” principally suicide and drug overdoses, have been blamed for wideni

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