The RFK Jr. Health Department is considering a national men’s health initiative

US Ministry The Department of Health and Human Services is considering launching a federal men’s health initiative, a source at the agency told WIRED.

Brian Christen, who will be sworn in Dec. 12 as assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services and head of the U.S. Public Health Service’s authorizing body, called for such an effort Wednesday during an FDA panel on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for men. An HHS spokesman declined to comment.

“We have a men’s health crisis in this country. Now we need a national strategy,” Christine said, as part of the call to create so-called men’s health centers of excellence across the country that would collaborate with each other, share information, and generate data to guide policies and programs around men’s health.

Participants on Wednesday’s FDA panel — which included federal health officials, urologists, experts in male sexual health, and the CEO of TRT Pharmaceuticals — expressed support for expanding eligibility criteria for TRT and removing testosterone from the FDA’s list of controlled substances. Earlier this year, the FDA held a similar panel on hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women, and announced in November that it would remove the black box warning from the drugs.

The Trump administration has aggressively rolled back transgender equality and equity initiatives across the government and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for women’s and LGBT health research.

During the panel discussion, Christine drew attention to men’s health more broadly, noting the widening gender gap in life expectancy in the United States and that 44% of men surveyed in 2023 did not get an annual physical exam. While rates of depression are similar between men and women, men are less likely to seek treatment, even though suicide rates in the United States are much higher among men. Drug abuse exacerbates this problem, with the majority of opioid overdoses occurring in men, he said.

“There are fewer federal programs targeting the health concerns of men than women,” Christine said. “None of this suggests that we should back away from our commitment to women’s health. No — never. But we need a parallel path for men’s health in this country.”

Christine also framed men’s health concerns, especially obesity, as a national security issue. “Men’s health concerns really impact defense readiness, defense preparedness, and the safety of this country against our enemies,” he said, adding that obesity is a barrier to serving in the military.