[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MEN'S HEALTH ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 2005

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, over the past 20 years Congress has 
devoted a great deal of time and money addressing the important issues 
facing women's health. We created an Office of Women's Health at the 
NIH and we have taken great strides to increase the number of women 
included in heath studies. We have undoubtedly saved hundreds of 
thousands of women's lives, improved the quality of many millions more, 
and we have every reason to be proud.
  However, we must now begin to focus on the crisis in men's health 
too. The simple fact is that every year hundreds of men suffer and die 
needless--and entirely preventable--deaths.
  In 1994, Congress established National Men's Health Week, the week 
leading up to and including Father's Day. Unfortunately, men's health 
is not getting any better.
  I believe it is time for us to establish an Office of Men's Health. 
For that reason, I am introducing legislation today that will establish 
an Office of Men's Health at the Department of Health and Human 
Services to monitor, coordinate and improve men's health in America.
  America needs a concerted effort to combat the problems facing men's 
health. This year, over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate 
cancer and approximately 30,000 of these men will die. Of course, we 
cannot save all these men. Nevertheless, we could save a lot of them. 
While mammograms and Pap spears have dramatically reduced the death 
rate from breast and cervical cancers, the death rate from prostate 
cancer could be reduced by widespread use of a simple test called the 
PSA. But many Americans have never heard of it.
  I am one of the thousands of men who have been saved by a simple PSA 
test. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During my annual 
examination, my doctor noticed a slight elevation in the readings of a 
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. However, it was only after a 
prostate biopsy that it was determined that I had cancer. Following the 
diagnosis, with my family, we decided that I should go ahead and have 
surgery. I am fortunate that my cancer was detected early, that I had a 
doctor who was familiar with PSA test results, and that I had 
healthcare coverage for my treatments. In my case, and in the cases of 
thousands of men, early detection and treatment have meant the 
difference between life and death.
  However, prostate cancer is only a small component of the men's 
health crisis: men have a higher death rate than women do for every 
single one of the ten leading causes of death in this country. Men are 
twice as likely to die of heart disease--the number one killer--40 
percent more likely to die of cancer, and 20 percent more likely to die 
of a stroke. At the turn of the last century, men and women had equal 
life expectancies. At the turn of this one, women outlive men by 6 
years.
  Admittedly, the largest part of the problem is that men do not take 
particularly good care of themselves. Only about half as many men as 
women have a regular physician. Overall, women are twice as likely as 
men to visit a doctor for regular check-up factoring out women's 
prenatal visits.
  So if we got men to start going to the doctor would men start living 
longer? Well, it could not hurt. In a study published by the 
Commonwealth Fund, nearly 70 percent of men over 40 who visited the 
doctor were not even asked whether they had a family history of 
prostate cancer. Men making less than $50,000 a year were even less 
likely to be asked. Forty percent of men over 50--who should be getting 
a prostate exam every single year--were not even screened by their 
doctors. Going to the doctor won't do anything about the fact that four 
times as many men commit suicide as women, that the victims of violent 
crime are 75 percent male, that 98 percent of the people who work in 
the most dangerous jobs in this country are men, and that 92 percent of 
people who die in the workplace are men.
  What can we do about this? First, we can make men's health a public 
priority. Just as we support public service announcements aimed at 
getting women to get regular mammograms and do routine self exams, we 
must support the same kind of campaign to get men to get regular heath 
checkups and do routine self exams. Testicular cancer, which is the 
most common cancer in men under 35, is curable if caught early enough. 
In addition, one of the best ways to do that is to teach boys and young 
men to check themselves out at least once a month.
  As precious as life is, men--just like women--should have the benefit 
of as much of it as they possibly can. Because they live so much 
longer, women are in the unenviable position of seeing their husbands, 
fathers, and even their sons suffer and die prematurely.
  So this year, let's spend some time figuring out what we can do to 
help men be better healthcare consumers and what we can do to give men 
the support and encouragement and resources they need to be the kind of 
fathers their kids need them to be and that they truly want to be.
  I also hope that all my colleagues will help me by supporting my 
legislation to establish an Office of Men's Health.

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