Proclamation 5525 --
National Infection Control Week, 1986 and 1987
By
the President of the
of
A
Proclamation
Nosocomial (hospital-associated) infections
directly cause more than twenty thousand deaths annually. They contribute
indirectly to an additional sixty thousand deaths every year. Approximately
one-third of all such infections, according to public health experts, are
preventable. While doctors have long been aware of this problem in hospitals,
there is new and growing concern about the spread of infection in day care
centers. There is no way of reckoning the human cost of these infectious
diseases. But we do know that the days lost from school and work as a result of
these diseases and the cost of treating them create a great financial burden
for the American public.
Scientific
evidence has shown that improved health practices, such as proper hand-washing
in health care and educational facilities, can significantly reduce the spread
of infections, especially staphylococcal infections, which are a threat to
hospital patients, and meningitis and diarrheal
diseases, which can be contracted in day care centers that neglect proper
hygienic practices.
Public
Health Service investigators are continuing vital research. They are optimistic
that new discoveries will lead to the development of improved techniques for
diagnosing, treating, and preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
To
focus public and professional attention on the seriousness of nosocomial and other infectious diseases, the Congress, by
Public Law 99 - 373, has authorized and requested the President to designate a
calendar week in 1986 and 1987 as ``National Infection Control Week'' and to
issue a proclamation to that effect.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the
Federal Register,