Office of Men's Health: Resource Center
	Support the Men's Health Act of 2001 Write a letter of support for the Men's Health Act of 2001 Why do we need an Office of Men's Health? Media Fact Sheet on the proposed Office of Men's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services Representative Cunningham's Press Release Announcing the Men's Health Act of 2001 Text of H.R. 632 [pdf] [word] [txt] Current list of Sponsors/Cosponsors Supporting H.R. 632 Speakers at the Press Conference Photos from the Press Conference Dear Colleague Letter Asking Members to Cosponsor Congressional Letter to the Secretary of Health & Human Services Congressional Testimony 2001 Letters of Support for the Office of Men's Health Press Coverage OMH in the 106th Congress MHN/OMH Home			Media Fact Sheet on the proposed Office of Men's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services Representatives Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA) have joined with over 50 cosponsors to introduce HR 632, a bipartisan bill that will establish an Office of Men's Health under the Department of Health and Human Services. An identical bill is expected in the Senate. The cosponsors have also forwarded a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, asking that he support creation of this office. Why is an Office of Men's Health Needed? There is an ongoing, increasing and predominantly silent crisis in the health and well-being of American men. Due to a lack of awareness, poor health education, and a paucity of male-specific health programs, men's health and well-being are deteriorating steadily. The deterioration of men's health is best illustrated by the life-expectancy gap. In 1920, the life expectancy difference between men and women was one year but by 1990 that had increased to seven years with men having a higher death rate for each of the top 10 leading causes of death. There is a need for an Office on Men's Health to develop strategies, coordinate research activities, recommend public policies, engage in public-private partnerships, and take other actions that will encourage men to engage in healthy lifestyles, promote awareness of and early detection of diseases that adversely affect men, and search for answers to the perplexing problem of the deteriorating condition of men's health. Health Facts In 1920, women lived, on average, one year longer than men. Now, men, on average, die almost six years earlier than women, and are more likely to become victims of many conditions such as cancer, stroke, heart disease, depression, and suicide. For details, read: Top Ten Causes of Death Mortality by Sex and Race The Silent Health Crisis The Office of Women's Health, established in 1991, has helped to improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of women. Age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 (Source:Dr. David H. Gremillion, M.D., FACP)   Cause Men Women   Heart Disease 178.8 98.2   Cancer 153.8 108.8   Injuries 43.3 17.9   Stroke 28.5 24.6   AIDS 18.1 4.2   Suicide 18 4 Males are at higher risk from most causes of injury and are disproportionately represented in the deaths that may result. Between the ages of 15 and 19 years, males are about 2.5 times more likely to die of any unintentional injury, five times more likely to die of homicide or suicide, and 10.6 times more likely to die from drowning. (Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/adoles.htm) Prostate Cancer makes up 37% of all cancer cases yet receives only 5% of research funding. (Source NPCC) Expenditures for Cancer Research by the National Cancer Institute in the Year 2000 (source NPCC): Breast Cancer: $424,900,000 Prostate Cancer: $190,000,000 Expenditures for outreach and screening at CDC (2000): Breast and Cervical Cancer program: ±$185,000,000 Prostate Cancer program (no screening): ±$11,000,000 A Government Accounting Office analysis of gender specific research funding at NIH indicates that spending on conditions that affect females exceeds the spending on conditions that affect males. (Source: GAO Report HEHS-00-96) The life expectancy for females exceeds that of males. Life Expectancy At Birth, 1998 Source: National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 48, No. 11, July 24, 2000 Classification Life Expectancy White females 80.0 Black females 74.8 White males 74.5 Black males 67.6 Read more about health disparities: Top Ten Causes of Death Mortality by Sex and Race The Silent Health Crisis Advantages of a Gender Specific Health Office The advancements in women's health can be attributed to the proliferation of women's health offices in the various agencies. A cursory sampling finds the following: HHS - Office of Women's Health http://www.4woman.org/owh/about/mission.htm OWH Mission To improve the health of women across the life-span by directing, developing, stimulating, and coordinating women's health research, health care services, and public and health professional education and training across the agencies and offices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and with other government agencies, public and private organizations, and consumer and health care professional groups. NIH - Office of Research on Women's Health http://www4.od.nih.gov/orwh/overview.html OVERVIEW Office of Research on Women's Health National Institutes of Health The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) serves as a focal point for women's health research at the NIH. The ORWH promotes, stimulates, and supports efforts to improve the health of women through biomedical and behavioral research. ORWH works in partnership with the NIH institutes and centers to ensure that women's health research is part of the scientific framework at NIH and throughout the scientific community. NCI - Office of Women's Health http://osp.nci.nih.gov/whealth/ National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - Women's Health Initiative http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/index.html CDC - Office of Women's Health http://www.cdc.gov/od/owh/whhome.htm FDA - Office of Women's Health http://www.fda.gov/womens/default.htm HRSA - Office of Women's Health The HRSA Office of Women's Health (OWH) coordinates women's activities across more than 80 HRSA programs. http://www.hrsa.dhhs.gov/WomensHealth/whoweare.htm
	For further information, please contact us at: Men's Health Network P.O. Box 75972 Washington D.C. 20013 Phone: 202-543-MHN1 (6461) Email: info@menshealthnetwork.org

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