Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 1.djvu/867

 PUBLIC LAW 100-144—OCT. 28, 1987

101 STAT. 837

Public Law 100-144 100th Congress Joint Resolution Designating the week beginning October 25, 1987, as "National Adult Immunization Awareness Week".

Whereas the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service launched a decade-long initiative in 1979 to reduce preventable death and disease among adults in the United States; Whereas reducing the incidence of infectious disease through immunization is an objective of the initiative; Whereas the Surgeon General established for influenza an immunization goal of 60 percent of the elderly and individuals with chronic illnesses and for pneumococcal pneumonia an immunization goal of 60 percent of individuals over the age of 40 and individuals weakened with underlying medical conditions; Whereas, by the end of 1985, only 17.6 percent of the elderly and individuals with chronic illnesses were immunized against influenza and 10.3 percent of individuals over the age of 40 and individuals weakened with underlying medical conditions were immunized against pneumococcal pneumonia; Whereas influenza, pneumonia, and other infectious diseases including measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and hepatitis B are among the top killers of adults in the United States particularly the elderly, despite readily available vaccines that have been proven safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration and could save the lives of tens of thousands of adults in the United States; Whereas reducing the incidence of infectious disease through immunization would help decrease the high cost of health care in the United States; and Whereas efforts to educate adults in the United States about the benefits of immunization generally are vital and will encourage more adults in the United States to be immunized against infectious diseases so that the immunization goals of the Surgeon General are met: Now, therefore, be it

Oct. 28, 1987 [S.J. Res. 168]

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