Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 5.djvu/918

 100 STAT. 4392

PROCLAMATION 5428—JAN. 13, 1986

lar eye care and prompt attention to conditions that need treatment, most Americans can be free of disabling visual impairment in their later years. Children also need early and regular eye examinations. Even the healthiestlooking child may have some unsuspected visual problem that needs prompt attention. A routine checkup can detect such disorders in time for effective treatment, sparing the child a needless handicap. Guarding against eye injuries is important for everyone. In the home as well as in the workplace, people should wear a face mask, goggles, or safety glasses when working with chemicals or machinery that might be dangerous to the eyes. People participating in sports should use appropriate protective eyewear. And children should be taught the basic principles of eye safety. In addition to saving our own vision, we can give the gift of sight to others after our death. By arranging to become eye donors, Americans can help insure that our Nation's eye banks will be able to continue supplying the precious tissue needed for sight-restoring corneal transplant operations. We should also support the excellent voluntary organizations that seek to prevent blindness and improve the lives of the visually handicapped. Through their programs of eye research, public education, and special services to people with low vision, these groups make an enormous contribution to the public good. To encourage our citizens to cherish and protect their sight, the Congress, by joint resolution approved December 30, 1963 \J7 Stat. 629, 36 U.S.C. 169a), has authorized and requested the President to proclaim the first week in March of each year as "Save Your Vision Week." NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning March 2, 1986, as Save Your Vision Week. I urge all Americans to participate in this observance by making eye care and eye safety an important part of their lives. Also, I invite eye care professionals, the communications media, and all public and private organizations committed to the goal of sight conservation to join in activities that will make Americans more aware of the steps they can take to protect their vision. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and tenth. r -

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RONALD REAGAN

Proclamation 5428 of January 13, 1986

National Poison Prevention Week, 1986 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation March 16-22, 1986, will mark the 25th observance of National Poison Prevention Week. During the past quarter-century, there has been a remarkable reduction in childhood poisonings. In 1961, when Congress passed the law authorizing this annual proclamation, some 450 children under five years of age were killed each year in poisoning accidents. By 1983 (the last year for which we have complete statistics], the annual death toll for children under five had dropped to 55—an 88% reduction. Some of this im-

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