Men's health emerged as a discrete academic and political concern in the 1990s.

A greater understanding of women's health issues had been one of the successes of the feminist movement, a development that drew attention to the fact that while men continued to dominate most societies in most fields, this did not extend to health and to life expectancy. By 2006, it was still the case that in the vast majority of countries, rich and poor, women could expect to outlive men.

In the UK, the Men's Health Forum was founded in 1994. It was established originally by the Royal College of Nursing but became completely independent of the RCN when it was established as a charity in 2001. The first National Men’s Health Week was held in the USA in 1994. The first UK week took place in 2002, and the event went international the following year. In 2005, the world’s first professor of men’s health, Alan White, was appointed at Leeds Metropolitan University in north-east England.

In 2000, the Toronto Men's Health Network was founded by Joe Jacobs, who helped bring attention to the importance of Men's Health in Canada's largest city. The organization has held Men's Health Forums annually, including 2005 where the guest speaker, Canadian Senator Dr. Wilbert Keon, spoke of the importance of Men's cardiovascular health. The organization has since been chaired by Ted Kaiser, Elaine Sequeira, Dr. Don McCreary and Donald Blair. Presently, the organization is being led by James Hodgins. It remains the oldest and most recgonized Men's Health advocacy organization in Canada, with other organizations starting to appear in British Columbia and the Maritime provinces.

In the United States Men's health issues are raised by, among others, Men's Health Network (MHN). MHN was founded in 1992 by a group of men's activists, therapists and writers interested in improving the health and well-being of men, boys and families. MHN furthers there issues through educatsion campaigns, partnerships with retailers and other private entities, workplace health programs, data collection and work with health care providers to provide better programs and funding for men's health needs.