Proclamation 5552 --
National Institutes of Health Centennial Year
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
The
National Institutes of Health, which began as a one-room laboratory at the
The
National Institutes of Health provides ongoing leadership in a unique
relationship among government, academia, industry, and voluntary organizations.
In addition to conducting investigations in its own laboratories, the NIH
supports the activities of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical
schools, hospitals, and other public, private, and voluntary research
institutions. It plays a crucial role in training our Nation's biomedical
research scientists and fosters biomedical communication throughout our country
and abroad. The NIH facilitates international assemblies of scientists and
promotes the exchange of scientists and scientific information between the
The
efforts of biomedical scientists have contributed to bringing our Nation's
death rate to an all-time low. Survival rates have improved for patients with
seven of the ten major forms of cancer. The death rate for cardiovascular
diseases has declined more rapidly than has that for all other causes of death
combined. New methods of hypertension control have reduced the incidence of
stroke. Dramatic progress has taken place in prevention of blindness through
laser technology and in the understanding and treatment of genetic diseases.
Achievements
such as these have been recognized internationally by the awarding of Nobel
Prizes to four NIH scientists and to 81 recipients of NIH grant support.
Despite
the significant improvements in health over the past century, many
health-related mysteries remain. The National Institutes of Health will
continue to play a vital role in solving these problems. The NIH is opening
exciting new opportunities at nearly every level of biomedical research, and
our Nation is proud of this great institution and its accomplishments.
The
Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 395, has designated the period beginning
October 1, 1986, through September 30, 1987, as the ``National Institutes of
Health Centennial Year'' and has authorized and requested the President to
issue a proclamation in observance of this event.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed
with the Office of the Federal Register,