PRINTER'S NO. 1571
No. 252 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY SCARNATI, D. WHITE, O'PAKE, LEMMOND, COSTA, ARMSTRONG, FERLO, RAFFERTY, LOGAN, ERICKSON, STOUT, GREENLEAF, CORMAN, STACK, WOZNIAK, KITCHEN, CONTI, KUKOVICH, WAGNER, ROBBINS, WONDERLING AND PIPPY, APRIL 26, 2004
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, APRIL 26, 2004
A RESOLUTION 1 Urging the Congress of the United States to pass S. 1028 and its 2 companion bill H.R. 1734 that amend the Public Health Service 3 Act to establish an Office of Men's Health. 4 WHEREAS, Male morbidity and mortality from preventable causes 5 is substantial, with significant and alarming disparities among 6 subpopulations of men based on race, ethnicity and socioeconomic 7 status; and 8 WHEREAS, A silent health crisis is affecting the health and 9 well-being of American men; and 10 WHEREAS, This health crisis particularly concerns men but 11 also concerns women with fathers, husbands, sons or brothers; 12 and 13 WHEREAS, The National Center for Health Statistics has shown 14 that men have higher age-adjusted death rates than women for 15 each of the top ten leading causes of death in the United 16 States; and 17 WHEREAS, Men are almost twice as likely as women to die from
1 heart disease, and the incidence of stroke is more than 10% 2 higher in men than in women; and 3 WHEREAS, Men are 50% more likely to die of cancer than women; 4 and 5 WHEREAS, The life expectancy gap between men and women has 6 steadily increased from 1 year in 1920 to 5.5 years in 2000; and 7 WHEREAS, Since women live longer and tend to marry older men, 8 seven out of ten "baby boom" women will outlive their husbands, 9 and many of these women can expect to be widows for 15 to 20 10 years; and 11 WHEREAS, Compared with men, older women are three times more 12 likely to live alone, are nearly twice as likely to reside in a 13 nursing home and are more than twice as likely to live in 14 poverty; and 15 WHEREAS, More than half of the elderly widows now living in 16 poverty were not poor before their husbands died; and 17 WHEREAS, Studies show that the huge disparity between men and 18 women is due in part to a lack of awareness, poor health 19 education and the low number of male-specific health programs; 20 and 21 WHEREAS, Men are half as likely as women to visit a doctor 22 for regular checkups or to obtain preventative screening tests 23 for serious diseases; and 24 WHEREAS, Men's health is a concern for employers who lose 25 productive employees and who pay the cost of medical care; and 26 WHEREAS, Men's health is a concern for Federal and State 27 Government and society, which absorb the enormous costs of 28 premature death and disability, including the costs of caring 29 for dependents left behind; and 30 WHEREAS, Every state has formed a commission to address 20040S0252R1571 - 2 -
1 women's issues or has established a women's health program, but 2 only seven states have a commission to address men's issues or a 3 men's health program; and 4 WHEREAS, Educating men, their families and health care 5 providers about the importance of early detection of male health 6 problems can result in reducing rates of mortality from male- 7 specific diseases and improving the health of America's men and 8 its overall economic well-being; therefore be it 9 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 10 advocate on behalf of men's health activities so that existing 11 government health networks are utilized to increase the health 12 and well-being of men; and be it further 13 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 14 urge the Congress of the United States to pass S. 1028 and its 15 companion bill H.R. 1734 that amend the Public Health Service 16 Act to establish an Office of Men's Health; and be it further 17 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 18 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each 19 member of Congress from Pennsylvania. C29L82DMS/20040S0252R1571 - 3 -