Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 2.djvu/76

 100 STAT. 1178

PUBLIC LAW 99-458—OCT. 8, 1986

Public Law 99-458 99th Congress Joint Resolution Oct. 8, 1986 [S.J. Res. 202]

Designating October 1986 as "American Liver Foundation National Liver Awareness Month".

Whereas there are more than one hundred liver diseases which are progressively debilitating and often fatal; Whereas liver diseases claim fifty thousand lives annually and are the fourth leading cause of death of Americans between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five; Whereas liver diseases strike infants, children, adolescents, and adults, regardless of sex, race, or economic status; Whereas there are no known causes, effective treatments (other than liver transplants), or cures for the vast majority of liver diseases; Whereas there are many conditions which can lead to liver diseases, including congenital or inherited abnormalities, severe reactions to drugs, prolonged exposure to environmental toxins, parasitic and other diseases, as well as alcoholism; Whereas people with a liver disease suffer not only physically from the disease but also emotionally from the unjust stigma placed on them due to the common, but mistaken, notion that liver disease is caused only by alcoholism; Whereas the American Liver Foundation is the only national organization to focus on the full array of liver diseases; Whereas the Foundation is a network of volunteers, families, researchers, and health care professionals located throughout the United States, dedicated to funding and increasing research to find the causes, treatments, cures, and ways to prevent these devastating diseases; and Whereas the Foundation is committed to promoting the health of Americans by increasing public awareness of all conditions which can lead to a liver disease, providing health and therapy information and education programs about liver diseases for lay persons and professionals, and supporting and enhancing the quality of life for those individuals and their families who must cope with a liver disease: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That October 1986 is designated as "American Liver Foundation National Liver Awareness Month", and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to— (1) learn more about the liver and how to prevent liver diseases;

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