Proclamation 5762 --
American Heart Month, 1988
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
For
more than half of this century, diseases of the heart and blood vessels,
collectively called cardiovascular diseases, have been our Nation's most
serious health problem. Last year, these diseases claimed 973,000 lives, and
they caused serious and sometimes permanent illness or disability
in still more Americans. Within this family of diseases, the leading
killers remained coronary heart disease, which accounted for 524,000 deaths,
and strokes, which accounted for 148,000 deaths.
Grim
though these statistics may be, other statistics
indicate that a corner may have been turned in 1965. Since then, mortality
rates for all cardiovascular diseases, and especially
for the two leading killers -- coronary heart disease and stroke -- have been
moving steadily downward. For example, since 1972, mortality rates for all
cardiovascular diseases combined have fallen by 34 percent, and those for
coronary heart disease and stroke have declined by 35 percent and 50 percent
respectively.
One
major reason for the decline in cardiovascular mortality rates is that more and
more Americans are modifying their habits in the direction of better
cardiovascular health. Research has identified factors that increase
vulnerability to premature coronary heart disease or stroke, and millions of
Americans are acting on that knowledge to eliminate or ameliorate the risk
factors that can be modified. These include high blood pressure, diabetes,
obesity, and sedentary living. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute,
encouraged by the success of its National High Blood Pressure Education
Program, has now launched similar programs against two
other major risk factors: cigarette smoking and elevated blood cholesterol.
Today,
the person stricken with a heart attack has a much better chance of surviving
the acute episode, thanks to continued improvement in diagnosis and treatment.
More and more of the stricken are reaching the hospital alive, thanks to better
recognition of ominous symptoms, widespread teaching of cardiopulmonary
resuscitation by the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association, and
better-equipped emergency vehicles with better-trained crews.
Many
individuals and organizations have contributed to the past four decades of
progress against cardiovascular diseases. However, two organizations -- the
federally funded National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the privately
supported American Heart Association -- have been in the forefront of this
national effort. Since 1948, the two have worked in close cooperation to foster
and support increased basic and clinical research in the cardiovascular field,
to train new research scientists and clinicians, and to participate in a wide
variety of community service and public and professional information
activities. Through their efforts, Americans have become more aware of what
they can do to live healthier lives.
Much
has already been accomplished, but much more remains to be done. Recognizing
the need for all Americans to take part in the continuing battle against heart
disease, the Congress, by Joint Resolution approved December 30, 1963 (77 Stat.
843; 36 U.S.C. 169b), has requested the President to issue annually a
proclamation designating February as ``American Heart Month.''
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of January,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,
Note: The proclamation
was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 22.