A Shout Out for “Movember”

A Shout Out for “Movember” October 25, 2016

A Shout Out for “Movember”

As everyone in the U.S. knows, October is “Breast Cancer Month.” I have seen numerous billboards, public service announcements, received many e-mails—all promoting awareness of the scourge of breast cancer and urging women to be examined for it and asking for donations to fight this terrible disease.

Come February, at least in the U.S., we will experience Women’s Heart Health month with an avalanche of information, appeals, information about women’s heart health.

I’m all for those campaigns. I do not want to detract from them in any way.

However, how people know that September was “Prostate Cancer Month?” I didn’t see or hear anything about it during that month. How many people know that, in the U.S., more men die of cancer than women? And almost as many men die of prostate cancer as women die of breast cancer? How many realize that when the government and the American Heart Association say that more women than men die of heart disease they are including in that statistic elderly women’s deaths from classical heart failure—probably the most common cause of death among the very elderly?

Many more men than women die or are incapacitated by classical myocardial infarctions—the classical “heart attack” due to a blocked artery in the heart? And it continues to happen to many men with very little public attention being paid to it?

Since the establishment of the federal Office for Women’s Health in the 1990s the vast majority of funding for gender-related health has been for women’s diseases and health. That’s good—up to a point. It only becomes bad when it detracts attention away from men’s health. Men continue to die approximately (on average) six years younger than women.

And that statistic should be a concern for women because many men who die leave behind a family financially stressed.

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the “Note to commenters” at its end.*

How many Americans know that November is a month designated for men’s health by the Movember Foundation? I first became aware of it when I saw a sign about it in a store window in Boulder, Colorado several years ago. Since then I have seen rare, occasional notices about it, but nothing like the attention given to women’s health in February, October and throughout the year.

May I suggest you look at the following web site and partner with the Movember Foundation U.S. to support men’s health? The web site is: https://us.movember.com/

I am not calling for less attention to women’s health; I am calling for more attention to men’s health. Please join me in this call. E-mail or call the American Heart Association about it and don’t settle for the stock answers. E-mail or call the American Cancer Society and don’t settle for the stock answers. The stock answers are: “We also care about men’s health and support research.” Ask them to be more public with their claimed concerns for men’s health—with public service announcements, e-mails, billboards, special events, etc. Things will only change as men and the women who care about them raise their voices to both government health agencies and non-profit health organizations on behalf of men’s health.

*Note to commenters: This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment solely to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and “on topic.” Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger’s (or guest writers’) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).


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