Proclamation 5711 --
Child Health Day, 1987
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
For
nearly 6 decades, Americans have observed Child Health Day in reaffirmation of
our private and public national commitment to the good health of every child.
During this year's observance, we should resolve to redouble our efforts to
ensure that all aspects of health services needed by mothers, babies, and older
children are properly identified, provided, and used, when and where needed.
Appropriate perinatal, medical, nutritional, and
educational services should be made available in accordance with family needs,
including specialized services for those at risk for poor pregnancy outcomes
such as low birth weight, delivery complications, or developmental problems.
Babies
and older children with special health needs such as severe chronic illnesses,
birth impairments, and related conditions often require early intervention and
highly specialized care. A family-centered, comprehensive program of medical,
educational, and social services in the community and in the home may also be
needed.
It
is vital that approaches such as these be fostered throughout our country.
Preventing low birth weights and infant mortality from other causes; reducing
disability levels; and increasing the feasibility of home care in cases of
severe chronic illness are objectives of high priority. Health professionals
and staff members of State and local social service agencies can improve the
effectiveness of health care delivery as they cooperate fully in these
approaches.
Federal
health services, research, and financing agencies continue to focus upon
support of such endeavors. For instance, the recently created Bureau of
Maternal and Child Health and Resource Development has as a central element of
its mission the promotion of case-managed perinatal care
as well as care for babies and older children who have special health care
needs. Real progress can be made through the combination of State and local
action and cooperation and Federal encouragement and support.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America,
pursuant to a joint resolution approved on May 18, 1928, as amended (36 U.S.C.
143), do hereby proclaim Monday, October 5, 1987, as Child Health Day.
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of
September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of
the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,