Proclamation 5572—National Diabetes Month, 1986

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Diabetes afflicts perhaps one in twenty Americans and is one of the leading causes of death in our Nation. Every year, diabetes takes more than 35,000 lives and contributes to the loss of another 95,000. Diabetes can cause complications such as blindness, heart or kidney disease, strokes, birth defects, and lower life expectancy. This disease also imposes a personal burden on those affected with it and on their families. Day-to-day treatment is a lifelong responsibility for those who have diabetes.

Despite diabetes' serious consequences, almost half of those with the disease are not aware they have it. Through greater public awareness of the frequency and the dangers of diabetes, we may reduce the incidence of complications from it—and even prevent most cases of noninsulin-dependent diabetes.

Thanks to advances in research in recent years, we understand more than ever before about diabetes and its mechanisms. This knowledge is providing the basis for trials of new diagnostic techniques and new treatments.

Through the shared dedication of the Federal government and of private organizations and individuals, we can continue to make progress in research and education efforts aimed at controlling and one day curing this disease. The goal of eliminating diabetes as a public health threat is an essential task and a realizable one.

To increase public awareness about the dangers of diabetes and the need for continued research and education efforts, the Congress, by Public Law 99-460, has designated the month of November 1986 as "National Diabetes Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of November 1986 as National Diabetes Month. I call upon all government agencies and the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, 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, 10:57 a. m., November 18, 1986]