Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 85.djvu/905

 PROCLAMATIONS

PROCLAMATION 4027

American Heart Month, 1971 By the President of the United States of America

January 22, 1971

A Proclamation The special effort to combat diseases of the heart and circulation initiated in the United States more than twenty years ago has been tremendously successful. Advances have been made in every aspect of cardiovascular medicine—in basic understanding, in preventive measures, in methods of diagnosis, in instrumentation, in surgical treatment, in drug therapy, in patient care, in rehabilitation. Heart victims everywhere have enormously benefited. This progress is clearly reflected in our overall cardiovascular mortality rate, which has been reduced more than 14 percent. However, there is much to be done before this killer disease is conquered. Heart and blood vessel diseases still afflict more than 27 million persons in our country. They take over one million lives annually and they exact a tremendous toll in suffering, disability, and economic loss. The progress we have witnessed these past years has been achieved primarily because of the programs supported by the Federal Government's National Heart and Lung Institute and the American Heart Association, a private voluntary agency. Allied with other public and private interests by common purpose, they constitute a continuing force for progress in reducing death and disability from cardiovascular causes. To sustain the forward march, however, the concern and support of all Americans is needed. With this support, the conquest of heart disease can be an attainable goal. 875

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