Proclamation 5244

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

America as never before is the land of opportunity for all our children. But for some, that opportunity is denied by illness or disability. Although our health care system is the envy of the world, disease or accident can still deprive many of our children of this birthright of opportunity.

Today, we celebrate tremendous accomplishments in child health. The significant and steady decline in infant mortality, and the great strides in preventing such diseases as polio or measles, are proud examples of what can be accomplished by a free and vibrant medical care system.

On this Child Health Day, 1984, however, we must dedicate ourselves to increasing our efforts. Past achievements only suggest that greater things can be accomplished in the future. We must dedicate ourselves to making further progress in reducing infant mortality for our whole society, and we must also seek to reduce infant mortality in those areas where the level is higher than the national average.

There also are severely handicapped infants who require not only the love and support of their families but who also must have the help of many groups in their communities-doctors, hospitals, health departments, providers of health care, and others-if they are to thrive.

There are teenage mothers and teenagers who become involved with abuse of alcohol and other substances-all these young people need our help and attention. During the coming year, it is my hope that we can continue to demonstrate what a free, energetic, and enlightened society can do cooperatively to protect and improve the health status of our Nation's most vital asset, our children.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, pursuant to a joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 143), do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, 1984, as Child Health Day, 1984.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:17 p. m., October 3, 1984]