Issues in men's health include diseases or aspects of health care delivery that are either unique to men, or more prevalent in men. For example:
Seven of 10 Americans who haven't visited a doctor in the last 5 years are men. Men are less likely than women to be screened regularly for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and cancers.
Over 180,000 men are diagnosed each year with prostate cancer, and 40,000 will die from this most common form of cancer in men.
The cost of treating prostate cancer, primarily in older men, is a major public expenditure. By the mid 1990s, hospital costs of this disease to Medicare alone were over $1.4 billion.
One in 5 American men has cardiovascular disease. Of all hospitalizations of men in 1999, at least a fourth of them - over 3.5 million - were related to cardiovascular problems.
In 1999, more than 700,000 U.S. men lost their lives due to heart disease, cancers, and stroke.
Of the 40,000 people infected with HIV in the United States yearly, 70 percent are men.
Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
