Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 3.djvu/899

 PROCLAMATION 5710—SEPT. 29, 1987

101 STAT. 2197

fulfillment of chastity before marriage and fidelity within it; know the blessings of stable family life; and say yes to life and no to drugs. Educational efforts should be locally determined and consistent with parental values. Educators can develop and relay accurate health information about AIDS without mandating a specific curriculum on this subject. Parents and educators should teach children not to engage in premarital sex or to use drugs, and should place sexuality in the context of marriage, fidelity, commitment, and maturity. Prevention of AIDS also demands responsibility from those who persist in high-risk behavior that is spreading AIDS. While many of these individuals apparently have not been convinced by educational efforts, some have begun to modify their behavior. AIDS is a fatal communicable disease of wide proportions, and all people of goodwill must realize that it is a public health problem whose prevention requires, at minimum, measures of detection, testing, and treatment now routinely taken against less dangerous communicable diseases. Our goal must be to protect the lives, the health, and the well-being of all our citizens. Public officials are entrusted with and sworn to the sacred duty of such protection. Our country needs wisdom and courage in this effort. We also need to remember that the battle against AIDS calls for calmness, compassion, and conviction—calmness, to remember that fear is the enemy of just solutions; compassion, for all AIDS victims; and conviction, for the understanding and the willingness to combat this major public health threat effectively. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the month of October 1987 as AIDS Awareness and Prevention Month, and I call on Americans to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of Sept., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth. RONALD REAGAN

Proclamation 5710 of September 29, 1987

National Lupus Awareness Month, 1987 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus is often called "the great impersonator" because it can mimic so many other diseases. A disorder of the body's immune system, lupus may affect the joints, the skin, and one or more internal organs (such as the kidneys, heart, and brain) in varying combinations. As many as 500,000 Americans—mostly women in their childbearing years—may suffer from this autoimmune disorder.

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