Subject
title
Proclamation Declaring June 9-15, 2025, as Men’s Health Week in Rockville, Maryland
end
Department
City Clerk/Director of Council Operations Office
Recommendation
Staff Recommend that the Mayor and Council read and approve the proclamation, and present it to Craig Simoneau, Director of Public Works for the City of Rockville, Maryland.
Discussion
International Men’s Health Week 2025 is 9-15 June
Men’s Health Week is 31 years old this year! It began in the U.S. in 1994 following a Senate Joint Resolution to establish the Week by Senator Bob Dole. The Week was linked to Father’s Day in the U.S. (the Week always ends on that Day, the third Sunday in June) and it became an international event in 2002 when it was first marked in the UK. It has since been adopted in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and beyond. The Week provides an opportunity for a wide range of organizations and individuals to draw attention to the poor state of men’s health, organize activities that engage men, and advocate changes to health policy and practice. In short, it puts men’s health on the map both nationally and globally.
Led by Men’s Health Network, representatives from six leading men’s health organizations around the world met at the 2nd World Congress on Men’s Health in Vienna, Austria in 2002 and resolved to work together to launch International Men’s Health Week (IMHW). The goal is to increase awareness of male health issues on a global level and to encourage inter-and intra-national institutions to develop health policies and services that meet the specific needs of men, boys, and their families.
Men’s Health Week/Men’s Health Month
This awareness period was created by Senator Bob Dole and Congressman Bill Richardson with support from Men’s Health Network. It was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 as Men’s Health Week (The Week ending on the U.S. Father’s Day). Men’s Health Week is still celebrated as “a special awareness period recognized by Congress and the President’ and international Men’s Health Week is celebrated around the globe.
Men’s Health Month (June) is an annual awareness period designed to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems (mental and physical) and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. Medical professionals and community activities use this opportunity to encourage regular self-exams and screenings.
Wear BLUE Day is celebrated every year on the Friday of Men’s Health Week!
www.MensHealthMonth.org <http://www.MensHealthMonth.org>
www.MensHealthWeek.org <http://www.MensHealthWeek.org>
www.InternationalMensHealthWeek.org <http://www.InternationalMensHealthWeek.org>
www.imhw.org <http://www.imhw.org>
www.WearBlueFriday.org <http://www.WearBlueFriday.org>
Mayor and Council History
The Mayor and Council present this proclamation annually
Public Notification and Engagement
In the USA, the Men’s Health Network also had a Men’s Health Month, part of which is ‘Wear Blue Day’ on 15 June.