PRINTER'S NO. 3884
No. 744 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY KENNEY, OLIVER, ADOLPH, ALLEN, BAKER, BARRAR,
BEBKO-JONES, BENNINGHOFF, BIANCUCCI, BISHOP, BOYD, BUNT,
CAPPELLI, CIVERA, CLYMER, CRAHALLA, DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO,
EGOLF, FABRIZIO, FICHTER, FRANKEL, GABIG, GEIST, GEORGE,
GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOOD, GRUCELA, HASAY, HENNESSEY, HERMAN,
HERSHEY, HORSEY, KELLER, KOTIK, LEDERER, LEH, MACKERETH,
MAITLAND, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McGILL, McILHINNEY, MICOZZIE,
MILLARD, PALLONE, PAYNE, PISTELLA, RAYMOND, READSHAW,
REICHLEY, ROBERTS, ROSS, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, SCHRODER,
SOLOBAY, E. Z. TAYLOR, TIGUE, TRUE, TURZAI, WASHINGTON,
WEBER, WHEATLEY, WILT, WOJNAROSKI AND YOUNGBLOOD,
MAY 24, 2004
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, MAY 24, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Encouraging the Congress of the United States to support passage
2 of the Men's Health Act.
3 WHEREAS, Male morbidity and mortality from preventable causes
4 is substantial, with significant and alarming disparities among
5 subpopulations of men based on race, ethnicity and socioeconomic
6 status; and
7 WHEREAS, A silent health crisis is affecting the health and
8 well-being of American men; and
9 WHEREAS, This health crisis is of particular concern to men
10 but is also a concern for women, especially those who have
11 fathers, husbands, sons and brothers; and
12 WHEREAS, The National Center for Health Statistics has shown
1 that men have higher age-adjusted death rates than women for
2 each of the top ten leading causes of death in the United
3 States; and
4 WHEREAS, Men are almost twice as likely as women to die from
5 heart disease, and the incidence of stroke is more than 10%
6 higher in men than in women; and
7 WHEREAS, Men are 50% more likely to die from cancer than
8 women; and
9 WHEREAS, The life expectancy gap between men and women has
10 steadily increased from 1 year in 1920 to 5.5 years in 2000; and
11 WHEREAS, Since women live longer and tend to marry older men,
12 seven out of ten baby boom women will outlive their husbands,
13 and many of these women can expect to be widows for more than 15
14 years; and
15 WHEREAS, Older women are three times more likely than older
16 men to be living alone, nearly twice as likely to reside in a
17 nursing home and more than twice as likely to live in poverty;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, More than half of the elderly widows now living in
20 poverty were not poor before their husbands died; and
21 WHEREAS, Studies show that health-related disparities between
22 men and women are due in part to lack of awareness, poor health
23 education and the low number of male-specific health programs;
24 and
25 WHEREAS, Men are half as likely as women to visit a doctor
26 for regular checkups or to obtain preventative screening tests
27 for serious diseases; and
28 WHEREAS, Men's health is a concern for employers who lose
29 productive employees and who pay the cost of medical care; and
30 WHEREAS, Men's health is a concern for Federal and State
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1 Government and society, which absorb the enormous costs of
2 premature death and disability, including the cost of caring for
3 dependents; and
4 WHEREAS, Every state has formed a commission to address
5 women's issues or has established a women's health program, but
6 only seven states have a commission to address men's issues or a
7 men's health program; and
8 WHEREAS, Educating men, their families and health care
9 providers about the importance of early detection of male health
10 problems can result in reducing mortality rates and improving
11 the health of America's men and the economy; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
13 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, recognizing that Government health
14 networks can be utilized to promote men's health and well-being,
15 encourage the Congress to support passage of the Men's Health
16 Act to secure access and remove barriers to health care for men
17 and their family members and urge passage of state legislation
18 addressing men's health issues.
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