Proclamation 6710

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Literally meaning "hard skin," scleroderma is a chronic disease that thickens and attaches the skin to underlying structures. Its cause is unknown.

Scleroderma strikes individuals of every age, sex, and ethnic background, although women between the ages of 25 and 55 are four times more likely to be afflicted. It is a painful and sometimes progressive disorder of the connective tissue that can cause disability, disfigurement, and even death. Its impact, in terms of both physical and emotional suffering, is enormous.

In patients with scleroderma, there is an excess production of collagen, the main fibrous component of connective tissue. As a result, the formation of dense, compact tissue causes the skin to lose its elasticity. Scleroderma is also a disease of the vascular and immune systems and can impair internal organs, such as the kidneys, lungs, heart, and gastrointestinal tract.

New biomedical research findings and innovative approaches to diagnosis and treatment are essential in fighting against this multifaceted disorder. The Federal Government and private voluntary organizations are working together to increase both public awareness of and research on scleroderma. Their objective is to discover the cause of this devastating disease and to develop effective ways to prevent, treat, and cure it.

I applaud all those who are working to bring public attention to this disabling illness, those who are aiding its victims, and those who are researching its complex nature.

The Congress, by Public Law 103-92, has designated the month of August 1994 as "National Scleroderma Awareness Month" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of August 1994 as National Scleroderma Awareness Month. I urge all Government agencies and the people of the United States, as well as educational, philanthropic, scientific, medical, and health care organizations and professionals, to participate in appropriate activities to encourage greater awareness of scleroderma and further research into its cause and cure.

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

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:14 p.m., August 2, 1994]