Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 89.djvu/1300

 89 STAT. 1240

PROCLAMATION 4348—FEB. 3, 1975 Proclamation 4348

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February 3, 1975

American Heart Month, 1975

By the President of the Vnited States of America A Proclamation An cstiniatca 28.5 million Americans suffer from some form of heart and bloo-d \'csscl disease. These diseases cause more than one million deaths each year. Approximately twent\-five percent of these deaths occur among' persons under age 65. Although heart and blood vessel diseases still account for slightly more than half of all deaths each year in the United States, death rates from these disorders declined over the five-year period 1968 1973 (the most recent year for which reliable statistics are available). This decline did not just happen. It has been achieved through the application of improved methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment that has grown out of an intensive and sustained research effort. Over the years, two agencies ha\e been the prime movers in the Nation's assault on the cardiovascular diseases. One is the National Heart and Lung Institute, an agency of the Federal Government; the other is the American Heart Association, a voluntary health organization that draws its operating funds from private contributions. For more than 25 years, the two organizations have worked hand-in-hand toward common goals: to search for and apply new or improved methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for cardiovascular disorders; to support the training of research and clinical personnel in the cardiovascular field; to provide community service to victims of cardiovascular diseases; and to carry out programs of information and education on cardiovascular topics for health professionals and.for the general public. Fo encourage continuation of this combined assault on the cardio\ascular diseases, the Congress has requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating February as American Heart Month. NOW, F H F R F FOR E, I, GFRALD R. FORD, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of February 1975, as American Heart Month. And I invite the Governors of the States, the Conmionwealth of Puerto Rico, and the officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to heed the nation-

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