Cancer Doesn’t Discriminate, Neither Should
Anyone Else! #HumanRights, #Oct16
It’s expected over 2,000 new cases of Male Breast Cancer will be diagnosed with almost 500 men who will die from this
disease. Yet, men may be denied insurance coverage for treatment and
preventative measures simply because they are not women. Equality for breast cancer prevention and treatment is essential!
In relation to human rights #BAD13 regarding one’s health, we would hope that we
are all eligible and have the opportunity to receive the highest level of
physical and mental health standards that exist. Unfortunately when it comes to
Male Breast Cancer, this is not always the case. To deny coverage on the
grounds of gender is outright cruel.
So how would you feel as a man if you didn’t
even know you were at risk for developing breast cancer? Should it matter to
men if their mother, sister, aunts had breast cancer? Do men even have breast? Yes they do! And who is checking for
prevention or worse, a diagnosis? When you visit your doctor for your yearly
physical (which hopefully you are and have some insurance to assist with this)
and they are aware of your family history and risks, and they don’t check you
for breast cancer, how does this make you feel? As a male especially if you are
at a higher risk, you have the right to receive examinations and even
mammograms or breast MRI’s. But most insurance companies don’t see it that way.
To date, there are still arguments over what
age a female should begin to receive a mammogram, even if she is at a higher risk due to
family genetics, etc. Should women receive routine mammograms starting at 50 years of
age? 40? 35? I had my first baseline mammogram at 35 because I have a maternal
aunt that had breast cancer. Fortunately for me, my annual mammogram a year
later, assisted with early detection of breast cancer. If I had waited till I
was 40 or 50- who knows if I would even be alive today!
Having sons with a family history of BRCA,
breast and prostate cancer diagnosis, I don’t want them to have to wait until
they feel something to get their first mammogram, however, insurance companies
don’t necessarily feel the way I do.
And what happens when you’re a man and you might
have breast cancer? You fill out the forms as if you were a woman; could you be
pregnant? , when was your last menstrual cycle?
How old were you when you began to menstruate? Men with breast cancer
should not be made to feel as though they have a stigma. Unfortunately there is not enough research for men with breast cancer and so they are treated "like a woman". Breast Cancer is a
disease that affects both men and women, and for human health rights, they
should be treated respectively as their bodies do have breast and they both have hormones that have an affect and are affected with the diagnosis.
Changes need to be made, updates need to
happen. Let’s begin recognizing that breast cancer is not just a women’s
disease so we can all be treated equally.
WHO Constitution: "the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human
being..."
Please, share this with your physicians and
care takers so we can all be treated equally, preventatively and continue in
good health. Visit HIS Breast Cancer Awareness at www.hisbreastcancer.org for more
detailed information on male breast cancer.
Modah Ani- I Am Thankful
Editor: Vicki Singer Wolf, Co-founder
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