Mike Leventhal

To date, there are approximately five federally funded Offices of Women’s Health: at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA). These offices have a combined annual budget in the tens of millions of dollars. In addition, the Office of Research for Women’s Health within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—one of several research agencies focusing exclusively on women’s health—has a $5 billion annual budget.

Unfortunately, zero Offices of Men’s Health exist anywhere in the federal government, zero offices researching men’s health, and a corresponding combined budget of exactly zero dollars. (In 2010, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act authorized the creation of an Office of Indian Men’s Health, but more than a decade later, that Office is still unstaffed and unfunded.)

Why do no offices that specialize in the health of boys and men exist? This question is fairly complicated. In just the past few years, we’ve seen the gap between men’s and women’s life expectancy increase (it’s now more than five and a half years shorter than women’s) and a disproportionate number of men dying from COVID and “diseases of despair”—men make up more than two thirds of opiate overdose deaths and three quarters of suicides, according to the CDC. Men die at younger ages and higher rates than women of nine of the top ten causes of death in the U.S. Most of those premature deaths are preventable.

A federally funded and staffed Office of Men’s Health could save lives. Just look at how successful the Offices of Women’s Health have been at increasing awareness of women’s health issues and at encouraging women to get regular health screenings and physical exams (men are half as likely as women to see a health provider for preventive care). The Office of Women’s Health within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that it and the other Offices have, among other achievements, increased breast cancer screenings and reduced breast cancer deaths, decreased smoking rates for women, decreased teen pregnancy rates, and increased women’s lifespan. An Office of Men’s Health could produce the same type of benefits for men.

A federally funded and staffed Office of Men’s Health could also save money. In a peer-reviewed article published in the American Journal of Men’s Health, my colleagues and I found that the failure to address men’s health in a comprehensive manner costs the government, private employers, and the healthcare system more than $450 billion each year.

What would an Office of Men’s Health do? Simply put, a lot! To begin with, it would create and disseminate—to state and local health agencies, private employers, and faith-based and community organizations—awareness and educational materials and programs designed to engage boys and men in the health care system and empowering them to be more proactive participants in their own care.

Tennessee has been a national leader in the men’s health movement for nearly two decades. Along with the statewide efforts of Tennessee Men’s Health Network to educate, promote, and advocate for men’s health; Tennessee has the distinction of currently being the lone state to produce a comprehensive report on men’s health. Working in collaboration Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Medicine & Public Health, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee Department of Health, and Tennessee Men’s Health Network brought forth the Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card. The goals of the Report Card are to monitor the health and well-being of Tennessee males and to inform strategies to improve men’s health in the Volunteer State. These findings and strategies will have the ability to dovetail with expertise from an Office of Men’s Health and would serve as a best practice program model for other states to implement overcome potentially poor outcomes.

Presently, non-government organizations such as Men’s Health Network, the parent organization of Tennessee Men’s Health Network and Healthy Men, Inc. are attempting to fill this role, but lack the fiscal resources. The Office of Men’s Health would also coordinate male-focused public health efforts with state health agencies (as the Offices of Women’s Health currently do for women).

What can you do to help? Contact your Representatives and Senators and encourage them to co-sponsor or at least support legislation to create, staff, and fund an Office of Men’s Health within the Department of Health and Human Services. The results could be dramatic, both in terms of longevity and a notable reduction in health care costs for all Americans. Healthier men and boys lead to healthier families and healthier communities.

Mike Leventhal is Executive Director of Tennessee Men’s Health Network, affiliate of Men’s Health Network headquartered in Washington, D.C. More information can be found at www.menshealthnetwork.org.