Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 1.djvu/478

 100 STAT. 442

PUBLIC LAW 99-306—MAY 19, 1986

Public Law 99-306 99th Congress May 19, 1986 [S.J. Res. 324]

Joint Resolution

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To designate the week beginning May 18, 1986, as "National Digestive Diseases Awareness Week".

Whereas digestive diseases rank third among illnesses in total economic cost in the United States; Whereas digestive diseases represent one of the Nation's most serious health problems in terms of discomfort and pain, mortality, personal expenditures for treatment, and working hours lost; Whereas twenty million Americans suffer from chronic digestive disease; Whereas more than fourteen million cases of acute digestive diseases are treated in this country each year, including one-third of all malignancies and some of the most common acute infections; Whereas more Americans are hospitalized by digestive diseases than by any other diseases, necessitating 25 percent of all surgical operations; Whereas digestive diseases are one of the most prevalent causes of disability in the work force; Whereas digestive diseases cause yearly expenditure of over $17,000,000,000 in direct health care costs, and a total annual economic burden of nearly $50,000,000,000; Whereas at least one hundred different digestive diseases, in addition to other disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, cause more than two hundred thousand deaths every year; Whereas research into the causes, cures, prevention, and clinical treatment of digestive disease and related nutrition problems has become a national concern, and the people of the United States should recognize digestive diseases as a major health priority; Whereas national organizations such as the Digestive Disease National Coalition are committed to increasing awareness and understanding of digestive diseases among members of the general public and the health care community; Whereas the National Institutes of Health, through its National Digestive Diseases Education and Information Clearinghouse, and the National Digestive Diseases Advisory Board are committed to encouraging and coordinating such educational efforts; and Whereas the week beginning May 18, 1986, marks the third anniversary of the National Digestive Disease Education Program, a coordinated effort to educate the public and the health care community regarding the seriousness of digestive diseases, and to provide information relative to their treatment, prevention, and control: Now, therefore, be it

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