Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 1.djvu/257

 PUBLIC LAW 98-295—MAY 22, 1984

98 STAT. 209

Public Law 98-295 98th Congress Joint Resolution To designate the week of May 20, 1984, through May 26, 1984, as "National Digestive Diseases Awareness Week".

Whereas digestive diseases rank third in the total economic burden of illness in the United States and, measured in terms of human discomfort and pain, mortality, personal expenditures for treatment, working hours lost, and burden on the Nation's economy, digestive diseases represent one of the Nation's most serious health problems; Whereas twenty million Americans suffer from chronic digestive disease and disorders, and in excess of fourteen million cases of acute digestive diseases are treated in this country each year, including one-third of all malignancies and some of the most common of acute infections; Whereas such diseases cause more Americans to be hospitalized than any other, necessitate 25 per centum of all surgical operations, and comprise one of the most prevalent causes of disability in the working force; Whereas digestive diseases cause a yearly expenditure of over $17,000,000,000 in direct health care costs and a total economic burden approaching $50,000,000,000 annually; Whereas at least one hundred different diseases and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract cause more than two hundred thousand deaths every year; Whereas research into the causes, cures, prevention, and clinical treatment of digestive diseases and related nutrition problems should become a national concern, and the people of the United States should recognize diseases of the digestive system as a major health priority; Whereas national lay and professional digestive disease organizations, individually and collectively, through the Coalition of Digestive Disease Organizations and the Federation of Digestive Disease Societies, are committed to heightening awareness and understanding of digestive tract disorders among members of the general public and the health care community; Whereas the National Digestive Diseases Advisory Board and the National Institutes of Health, through its National Digestive Diseases Education and Information Clearinghouse, are committed to encourage and coordinate these educational efforts; and Whereas the week of May 20, 1984, through May 26, 1984, marks the first anniversary of the national digestive disease education program, a coordinated effort to mobilize and focus the activities of the digestive disease community to educate the public and health care community as to the seriousness of digestive diseases and to provide information relative to treatment, prevention, and control: Now, therefore, be it

31-194 0 - 86 - 9: QL. 3 Part 1

May 22, 1984 [S.J. Res. 228]

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