Proclamation 5561 -- National Adult Immunization Awareness Week, 1986

October 25, 1986

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Influenza and pneumonia are among the principal killers of American adults, especially the elderly. Fewer than 12 percent of the adult population are vaccinated against these diseases or against other highly infectious diseases such as measles, rubella, diphtheria, and hepatitis B. Fewer than half of Americans over sixty are vaccinated against tetanus.

Inoculation against infectious diseases is a major factor in preventive health care. The Surgeon General of the United States has repeatedly called on our Nation to prevent the massive costs associated with health care through programs of health promotion and disease prevention. Many studies by the United States Public Health Service confirm the soundness of this directive. Inoculation with vaccines approved as safe and effective by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and readily available to the public, could save the lives of tens of thousands of American adults this year.

In recognition of the importance of adult immunization and the benefits that can flow from heightened public awareness, the Congress, by Public Law 99 - 528, has designated the week of October 26 through November 1, 1986, as ``National Adult Immunization Awareness Week'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of October 26 through November 1, 1986, as National Adult Immunization Awareness Week. I call upon all government agencies and the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate activities.

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

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:55 a.m., October 27, 1986]

Note: The proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 27.