On Thursday, October 6, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham kicked off his tenth annual “Take Your Man to the Doctor” campaign—a call to action for men of all ages, ethnicities, and economic levels to regularly visit a doctor, and for the women and men who love them to help make it happen. Participating Brooklyn hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals offered free flu shots, HIV testing, exercise demonstrations, health screenings for asthma, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, glucose, glaucoma and other conditions, and made important health information available in and around Borough Hall Plaza.

BP Markowitz was joined by Brooklyn newlyweds Alex and Tanesha Vedrine of Mill Basin, who were planning their wedding last year when Alex—just 24 years old at the time and a non-smoker—was diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC lung cancer. The couple is spreading the word about the importance of routine doctor visits and health screenings, as well as raising awareness of lung cancer.

“Take your man to the doctor—that means your husband, your father, your brother, your son, your uncle, your friend or your significant other,” said BP Markowitz. “We don’t care how you do it. Nag him, drag him, cajole him, entice him—just get him to go. Remember, if you do, he will live to love you longer,”

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report Health, United States, 2010, men ages 18-44 years represented about 20 percent fewer visits to a primary care generalist than women. The report also indicates that men were twice as likely not to have a usual source of health care, as compared to women. Source: www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/men.htm, Tables 92 and 75.
• The 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report found that Hispanic and Black men were less likely than White men to have access to a physician. The report shows that Black patients were about four percent less likely to have a usual primary care provider, and an even higher disparity of approximately 15 percent for Hispanics. Source: www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr10/Chap9.htm
• The U.S Department of Health and Human Services recommends that men receive regular screenings for such things as blood cholesterol, blood pressure, colorectal cancer, diabetes, depression, sexually transmitted diseases and prostate cancer. Source: www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm

In 2006, BP Markowitz learned firsthand the importance of regular checkups, early detection and preventative care when he experienced chest pains that resulted in an operation to insert a stent. He finally went to the hospital only after his wife Jamie insisted.