[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 640 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 640

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men's 
                                Health.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2007

   Mr. Crapo introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men's 
                                Health.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Men's Health Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Risks to the health and well-being of America's men are 
        on the rise due to a lack of education, awareness, and pursuit 
        of preventative screening and care.
            (2) While this health crisis is of particular concern to 
        men, it is also a concern for women regarding their fathers, 
        husbands, sons, and brothers.
            (3) Men's health is a concern for employers who pay the 
        costs of medical care, and lose productive employees.
            (4) Men's health is a concern to Federal and State 
        governments which absorb the enormous costs of premature death 
        and disability, including the costs of caring for dependents 
        left behind.
            (5) The life expectancy gap between men and women has 
        increased from one year in 1920 to almost six years in 2002.
            (6) Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer 
        in the United States among men, accounting for 33 percent of 
        all cancer cases.
            (7) An estimated 230,000 men will be newly diagnosed with 
        prostate cancer this year alone, and approximately 30,000 will 
        die.
            (8) Prostate cancer rates increase sharply with age, and 
        more than 75 percent of such cases are diagnosed in men age 65 
        and older.
            (9) The incidence of prostate cancer and the resulting 
        mortality rate in African American men is twice that in white 
        men.
            (10) It is estimated that in 2007, 115,000 men will be 
        diagnosed with lung cancer, and another 90,000 of America's men 
        will die from lung cancer.
            (11) Over 8,000 men, ages 15 to 40, will be diagnosed this 
        year with testicular cancer, and 390 of these men will die of 
        this disease in 2007. A common reason for delay in treatment of 
        this disease is a delay in seeking medical attention after 
        discovering a testicular mass.
            (12) Studies show that women are 100 percent more likely 
        than men to visit a doctor, have regular physician check-ups, 
        and obtain preventive screening tests for serious diseases.
            (13) Appropriate use of tests such as prostate specific 
        antigen (PSA) exams and blood pressure, blood sugar, and 
        cholesterol screens, in conjunction with clinical exams and 
        self-testing, can result in the early detection of many 
        problems and in increased survival rates.
            (14) According to the Census Bureau, by the time men and 
        women reach age 65, the ratio of men to women reduces to 85 to 
        100. The growing disparity in this statistic suggests that 
        among other factors, the declining health of men increases the 
        risk of women entering retirement age as widows.
            (15) Educating men, their families, and health care 
        providers about the importance of early detection of male 
        health problems can result in reducing rates of mortality for 
        male-specific diseases, as well as improve the health of 
        America's men and its overall economic well-being.
            (16) Recent scientific studies have shown that regular 
        medical exams, preventive screenings, regular exercise, and 
        healthy eating habits can help save lives.
            (17) Establishing an Office of Men's Health is needed to 
        investigate these findings and take such further actions as may 
        be needed to promote men's health.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF MEN'S HEALTH.

    (a) In General.--Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
section:

``SEC. 1711. OFFICE OF MEN'S HEALTH.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
Department of Health and Human Services an office to be known as the 
Office of Men's Health, which shall be headed by a director appointed 
by the Secretary. The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 
Office, shall coordinate and promote the status of men's health in the 
United States.
    ``(b) Activities.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Office, shall--
            ``(1) conduct or support programs and activities to improve 
        the state of men's health in the United States; and
            ``(2) provide for consultation among offices and agencies 
        of the Department of Health and Human Services for the purpose 
        of coordinating programs and activities relating to men's 
        health.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
acting through the Director of the Office of Men's Health, shall submit 
to the Congress a report describing the activities of such Office, 
including findings that the Director has made regarding men's health.
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