Proclamation 4108—Save Your Vision Week, 1972

Vision is among man's most precious possessions, and one of the most fragile.

The many ways in which it can be lost or impaired summon us to develop the best possible means for its protection. It is never too early, but often may be too late, to take action to preserve our vision.

Preventative efforts, of course, are the key—we should take all possible steps to prevent eye injuries at home, in the school, at play or on the job. And regular professional eye examinations for all members of the family are an important part of any effort to preserve sight.

The early detection of vision problems will prevent many common kinds of blindness and visual disability. For example, children can be spared a lifetime of visual loss from amblyopia or "lazy eye" simply by having their eyes examined before the age of six. And vision threatened by glaucoma can be saved by early diagnosis and treatment.

Where prevention of disorders is not possible, sight often can be restored by skilled professional treatment. Many thousands of older Americans are needlessly blind from cataracts because they fear surgery. Yet the virtually painless operation to remove cataracts is among the most successful of all surgical procedures. And research efforts have made corneal transplantations highly successful.

Continued research will improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of visual disorders. Such research is strongly supported by the Federal Government through the National Eye Institute of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

In recognition of the importance of preserving sight, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved December 30, 1963 (77 Stat. 629), requested the President to proclaim the first week in March of each year as Save Your Vision Week.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of March 5, 1972, as Save Your Vision Week. I urge all Americans to learn more about their eyes and the symptoms of vision problems, and to take the steps necessary to assure for themselves and their families a lifetime of useful vision.

I also urge ophthalmologists, optometrists, and government and private agencies concerned with vision, to cooperate in the observance of this week by providing helpful information on saving vision and by other appropriate activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-sixth.

RICHARD NIXON