When any decent history books look back on this government-in-meltdown, they may well want to look at the institutionalised sexism that infests it.
Whether it is the Minister for Women (no Minister for Men), a widening gap in boy's education results or the wilful neglect of male domestic violence victims, nothing is as sinister as the government's decision this week not to invest in prostate cancer screening.
To much brouhaha, the government announced this week a five-year Cancer Reform Strategy which sets out a blueprint for cancer services in England for the next five years, £370 million of extra funds will be invested by 2010 on top of the present annual spending of £4.35 billion. This includes extending screening for women at risk of breast cancer, which of course is good news.
What was missed was the the Department of Health have ruled out a prostate cancer screening programme stating that there is not enough proof that it would be effective. This despite the fact 10,000 of the 35,000 men who contract it die.
As stated in the Daily Mail, The Prostate Cancer Charity attacked ministers for not funding trials of new tests to spot the cancer.
As ever, men are pushed to bottom of the pile. The extension of breast cancer screening is welcome and appeals to women (and their male partners) voters more than announcing a fight against prostate cancer, which is one way of cynically looking at it.
However, this isn't a matter of playing politics, it is matter of life and death and this government do not seemed interested in the lives of men. This is institutional sexism.
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