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
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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.
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