Proclamation 5559—National Kidney Program Day, 1986

Many thousands of Americans who suffer from irreversible kidney disease have obtained treatment through the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program. This program has assured that Americans affected with otherwise fatal kidney failure will have access to lifesaving dialysis or transplantation therapy.

ESRD patients may remain economically productive and capable of making valuable contributions to family, community, and country while they receive treatment. This program has special significance as an example of the kind of partnership that can be formed between government arid the health care industry in dealing with catastrophic illness.

Our Nation is strongly committed to achieving economy in health services without compromising quality of care. The ESRD program contributes to this important goal.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 367, has designated October 23, 1986, as "National Kidney Program Day" 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 Thursday, October 23, 1986, as National Kidney Program Day, and I call upon Federal, State, and local government agencies and the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third 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