[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13536-13537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       NATIONAL MEN'S HEALTH WEEK

 Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as we honor our fathers, 
grandfathers and husbands this Fathers' Day, it is important to 
recognize the crisis that is taking place with regard to men's health. 
As highlighted by National Men's Health Week, which ends on Fathers' 
Day, this crisis in the health and well-being of American men is 
ongoing, increasing, and predominantly silent.
  National Men's Health Week, which was established in 1994 under the 
leadership of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, has helped shed 
light on some of the primary factors that have lead to this steady 
deterioration: lack of awareness, inadequate health education, and 
culturally-induced behavior patterns at work and at home.
  Many have rightly argued, that one main cause is the cultural message 
that men should not react to pain. Men continue to fear the risk of 
appearing unmanly, or merely mortal, if they change their behavior or 
their environment. Unfortunately that includes visits to the doctor. On 
average, women on average make 6.5 visits per year while men average 
4.9.
  This lack of attention to health is perhaps best demonstrated by male 
mortality figures. In 1920, the life expectancy of men and women was 
roughly the same. Since that time, however, the life expectancy of men 
has steadily dropped when compared to women. In 1990, life expectancy 
for women was 78.8 years but only 71.8 years for men. Today, the life 
expectancy of men is a full 10 percent below that of women.
  Another indicator: men have a higher death rate for every one of the 
top 10

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leading causes of death. Men are twice as likely to die of heart 
disease, the nation's leading killer. In fact, one in every five men 
will suffer a heart attack before age 65.
  Male specific cancers, testicular and prostate, and other non-gender 
specific cancers have also reached epidemic proportions among men. One 
in six will develop prostate cancer at some point in his life, and 
African-American men are especially at risk, with a death rate that is 
twice the rate of white men.
  Death by suicide and violence is another predominantly male 
phenomenon. Men are the victims of approximately three out of four 
homicides, and account for approximately four out of every five deaths 
by suicide. Workplace accidents are also a major killer. Ninety-eight 
percent of all employees in the 10 most dangerous jobs are men, and 94 
percent of all those who die in the workplace are men.
  As demonstrated by the events this week on Capitol Hill--like the 
health screenings for prostate and colorectal cancer hosted by the 
Men's Health Network--National Men's Health Week has done much to end 
the silence surrounding the real state of health of American men. But 
much more needs to be done. This Fathers' Day let us all do everything 
we can to silence as well the cultural mind set that has claimed the 
lives of so many of our husbands, fathers, and brothers. Let's show 
them how much we truly love them by making them aware of the very 
real--and very preventable--dangers that await them if they fail to pay 
attention to their health.

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