The Rights Of Man

NHS ORDERED TO END CARE BIAS AGAINST MEN

It is not often you can say this but the Commission of Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR) got off their backsides and actually were pro-active in making the case for support for men.

In May, they wrote to all strategic health authorities ordering them to end anti-male discrimination in healthcare. Coverage of the letter is here (link).

Evidence on this issue was given by Peter Baker of the Men's Health Forum to the Health Select Committee in June (link) - para 621 onwards.  He made the rightful point that GP surgeries are not open when men need them - evenings and weekends.

Let's see if things change but don't hold your breath.

TWO NEW PROSTATE CANCER PETITIONS - PLEASE SIGN (Article by James Steele)

10,000 men continue to die from prostate cancer every year in the UK and despite the recent report by researchers at Bristol University (link 1, link 2) that the striking decline in deaths in the USA compared with the UK from 1994 to 2004 coincided with a much higher uptake of screening using the PSA test in the USA, the government still refuses to consider the use of the PSA test for screening or even to publicise the availability of the PSA test.

 

The Government's rationale is the potential harmful effects of screening for those men who show a raised PSA level for prostate cancer which include post biopsy bleeding, infection, impotence, and incontinence. These are potential side affects of a biopsy, not of screening using the PSA test or the physical DRE examination.

 

It can not be right to continue with the Status Quo whereby men with unknowingly raised PSA levels or knowledge of the PSA test will have to wait for symptoms to appear when the tumour has grown and treatment options or cure reduced.

 

 

I would like to point out the existence of two on-going petitions on the Government's on-line e-petition site.

 

 

(1) PETITION 1  

 

The first has been instigated by the Association of International Cancer Research (AICR) which is has a link from their web site (link)

 

Petition 1 (link)

 

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change NHS policy to make the PSA test available on demand for all men over 50 and help save more than 10,000 men who die of prostate cancer each year. One of the things American men have that our British men don't, is routine access to the PSA test, a blood test administered by GPs that can diagnose prostate cancer.

 

 Although the test has some important drawbacks, evidence from around the world shows that the wider use of the PSA test is associated with higher prostate cancer survival rates.

In the UK, men who are concerned about their prostate have no automatic right to a PSA test. The five year survival rate of prostate cancer in the USA is 98.5, compared with just 70% here.

 

(2) PETITION 2

 

Petition 2 (link)

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that ALL men in the UK undergo a simple PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood test to screen for the early signs of prostate cancer, at the age of 45, recurring once every 3-5 years.

 

Prostate Cancer is on the increase in the UK and currently men do not have a standard test for this disease, unlike women who get a smear test and a Mammogram to check for both breast and cervical cancer.

The test for prostate cancer is initially simple, involving a blood test to check for a man's PSA levels. Through regular testing from the age of 45 onwards, hopefully more cases can be caught early before they spread and become inoperable.

 

MALE SUICIDE RATES STILL THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN FEMALE SUICIDE RATES

Recently it had been mentioned that when a male member of the now defunct Equal Opportunities Commission had been asked why there was no Minister for Men, he depressingly but unsurprisingly said there was no reason to have one.

The recent figures (published Jan 2008) by the Office of National Statistics (link) and (link) on male suicide rates clearly show one of innumerable reasons why there should be a Minister for Men and why more attention needs to be given to the sad tales behind the figures.

In 2006, there were 5,554 suicides in the UK and three quarters of these were men. 4,196 men committed suicide (17.4 per 100,000) whilst for women the figures were 1,358 (5.3 per 100,000)

In addition, whilst the rates of suicide for men between 15-44 and 75+ have fallen, those for men 45-74 has actually increased. The figures from the Office of National Statistics are below:-

According to CALM, who help and run a helpline for depressed men (link), one hundred thousand years of life are lost each year as a result of British men killing themselves. This of course, does not just affect the men themselves, it also affects their friends and families, of course many of whom are women.

The issue comes back again to the lack of help and support for depressed men from statutory agencies and the general anti-male, pro-women attitude by the state which means that many men are feeling scened class and are actually being treated as second class. There is no real help aimed at depressed men and certainly a Minister for Men would bring this into focus.

One key issue that often drives depression and suicide is when the economy turns and men start to lose their jobs thereby finding it harder to provide for their family or even get onto the job ladder. This also brings into sharp focus all the extra help that women receive in the workplace.

If the economy does turn in the next 18 months, then this may increase the male rates of suicide. The figures on the chart above show that male suicide rates were high in the early 90's, the time of the last recession.

NEW INITIATIVES FOR MALE DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIMS

The past few months have seen an increase in activity in the organisiations (albeit still small) in the male victims of domestic abuse sector.

The ManKind Initiative has a new web-site (link)

A new help-line and service has been set up in Wales called Dyn Wales (link) and (link)

A new branch of Men's Aid has been set up in Scotland (link)

NEW CRIME STATISTICS ARE WAKE UP CALL TO THE PLIGHT OF MALE DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIMS

New British Crime Survey figures published by the Government (link) show that as many men as women are victims of 'severe force' in a relationship (1.7% men and 1.8% women).

These figures were highlighted by The ManKind Initiative (link) who accuse the Government, the police and local authorities of turning a blind eye to the plight of male victims, especially as the figures are irrefutable when they are the Government's own figures (link). This is because the Government do not provide local authorities with funds, the latter don't ask for it and don't want to know and very few police authorities accept that men can also be victims.

The ManKind Initiative also highlighted the trend over the past three years which show that c40% of male victims of domestic abuse are men.:-

	Men			Women
	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Partner Abuse (non sexual)	4.1%	4.0%	4.3%	5.6%	5.7%	5.6%
Partner Abuse (non sexual -severe force)	1.6%	1.3%	1.7%	1.8%	1.8%	1.8%

Whenever, you hear Feminist Fundamentalist groups such as Women's Aid, Refuge, The Fawcett  Society etc, deny that male victims need help or if they only talk about female victims, then use these figures. Their untruths are no longer sustainable.

PROSTATE CANCER CHARTER REVEALS POSTCODE LOTTERY

One of the most pernicious symptoms of the way the NHS is allegedly 'run' is the postcode lottery. We all pay the same taxes but the level of care available in your local area is solely down to chance. So much for the equality of treatment that the NHS was meant to be all about.

The Prostate Cancer Charter for Action launched this week (link) revealed this week that men in some areas are two and a half times more likely to die of the disease than those in others.

The number dying each year varies widely across English regions, from 15 to 38 per 100,000 of the male population. Charities and doctors said on Monday that a quarter of local health care providers had failed to implement guidelines on standards prostate cancer patients can expect from the NHS.

The Daily Mail reported the story (link) - "The middle-classes are losing out because of a postcode lottery of death rates from prostate cancer, figures have revealed. They show that a number of affluent middle-class regions have the worst survival rates, while some of the poorest have the best. Around 10,000 of the 35,000 men in the UK diagnosed with prostate cancer each year die from their disease. Some 60 per cent of cases occur in men over the age of 70."

The Telegraph reported it here (link).

SINGLE-SEX WARDS CONCERN MEN AS WELL AS WOMEN

The recent admission that the Government has failed in its promise (not another broken promise surely?)  to eliminate single sex wards, shows the mess this government is in despite all its extra taxes thrown at the NHS. It is also a clear failure to treat men and women in hospital with the dignity they deserve.

Currently 4 in every 5 hospitals do not segregate men and women. The story was covered here:- (link), (link), (link) and (link).

What needs to be remembered, but is often forgotten, is that there is as much indiginity for an ill man to be in a ward with ill women, as well as the other way round.

Often, this sad issue is looked at from the usual one-eyed, one-sided perspective. That is, it is terrible and undignified for ill women to be in wards with ill men. Of course it is, but also it has to be remembered that it works the other way round as well.

This should be one of the top items in the in-tray for any Minister for Men.

NEW BOOK - THE WOMAN RACKET BY STEVE MOXON

Steve Moxon, well known male rights activist and also the man who exposed the immigration scandal at the heart of the UK Government, has published a major new work, called The Woman Racket (link). More detail can be found here (link).

The book challenges the myths about the downtrodden woman and exposes how men are the discriminated sex.

At its heart it is a work that applies science to challenge the politically correct view of the elites that woman are the discriminated sex and men are the privileged sex. He argues that it is the other way round.

His view is that men should not apply for victim status as that plays into the hands of the politically correct, and that it should be the victim status of women that should be revoked.

This is highly recommended and is a vital weapon in the fight for male equality. Let the battle commence.

FATHERHOOD INSTITUTE LAUNCHED - DADS FRUSTRATED AT SECONDARY ROLE

A welcome new addition to the pantheon of groups supporting men is the Fatherhood Institute (link) which came into being came into being on 7 January 2008, a successor organisation to Fathers Direct. It is part funded through a £300,000 grant from the Government.

To quote from its site its aim is "to promote good practice in public services and industry, in recognition of the aspiration of fathers to be more involved in their children’s lives and in response to the increasing body of research that demonstrates the importance of father-child and mother-father relationships to children."

At its launch, it also produced a report "The Difference A Dad Makes" (link) that will dismay the anti-male feminist fundamentalists who want to relegate men to the outer sphere of society.

"7 out of 10 mums (68%) believe dads are as skilled at parenting as they are, yet the father role is seen as still secondary by much of society, according to new ICM research launched by the Fatherhood Institute today.

The new institute says involving fathers has a major impact on child welfare yet they spend on average a month less with their children than mums every year, mainly because of unsocial hours and inflexible working."

Full press release available at (link) and the launch was covered in The Guardian (link) and Daily Telegraph (link).

The organisation has been campaigning for a fairer Child Support Agency institution and also for the family courts/CAFCASS to be reformed. Two areas that the female fundamentalists have used to undermine the male role in bringing up and supporting their children.

Harriet Harman, one, if not the, biggest enemy of UK men, launched the new organisation probably as a sop to her conscience and to enable her to say "Look, the Labour Government does support men". Do not believe it.

Let us hope the Institute is successful but hope that because it is reliant on Government for its funding, it is not captured by the Government (Classic New Labour tactic of funding groups that oppose it, thereby effectively gaining control of them) and still and must remain an independent voice.

PROSTATE CANCER : LABOUR GOVERNMENT'S BETRAYAL CONDEMNS MEN TO DEATH

As reported in the Sunday Telegraph on 17th December 2007, "a life saving treatment will be denied to tens of thousands of victims of Britain's most common male cancer after a U-Turn by the NHS rationing body."

NICE (laughably called the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) is a government quango which rations health treatment in England and Wales and decides what treatment the NHS can deliver. This though is a great lie as it rations health care and recently and rightfully there was uproar when it tried to restrict the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

This time it originally recommended that an ultrasound technique (HIFU) should be free on the NHS for prostate cancer victims as it is non-invasive and kills nine out of ten prostate tumours. The one-off cost is £13,000 whilst Herceptin is about £26,000.

NICE, according to The Sunday Telegraph, have decided to reverse this decision in an announcement due in February which means that many of the 10,000 men who lives are lost through prostate cancer each year will be denied the treatment that would save them.

The Sunday Telegraph story and debate is here (link) and a link to an article by Professor Roger Kirby, the Chairman of the charity Prostate UK is here (link).

What is frightening is the fact it shows how cheap the Government feels mens lives are and that they are not prepared, despite all the extra taxes, to pay for this treatment. If, as some commentators have said, it was women's lives at stake, the money would be found because of the outcry. But women's lives are at stake because men who die of prostate cancer are also husbands, fathers and brothers of women.

The only logical conclusion is that men are disposable and dispensable under this Labour Government and they are condemning many to die if this is unfunded.

Now, more than ever, we need a Minister for Men who will champion this issue.

We need a Government that supports all sexes, not one that purposely ignores men.