Proclamation 5654—National Osteoporosis Week, 1987

Every American should know the seriousness of osteoporosis and the need to find ways to cure and prevent it. This disease causes bone mass to decrease, which weakens bones and makes them susceptible to fracture. Osteoporosis afflicts 15 to 20 million Americans, most of them women. It affects half of the women in the United States age 45 or older, and 90 percent of women over 75—bringing pain, decreasing mobility, hampering daily functions, and sometimes ending independence. Every year more than a million Americans suffer fractures because of this disease, most often of the spine, wrists, and hips.

Because the number of elderly Americans continues to rise, so does the incidence of osteoporosis. Fortunately, private organizations and the Federal government are conducting research into this malady. Together they are making new research findings and developing new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In this way, working together, we can discover the causes and cure of this major public health problem and eliminate or diminish it.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 55, has designated the week of May 10 through May 16, 1987, as "National Osteoporosis Awareness Week," and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of May 10 through May 16, 1987, as National Osteoporosis Awareness Week. I urge the people of the United States and educational, philanthropic, scientific, medical and health care organizations, and professionals to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyseven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

RONALD REAGAN