Proclamation 5833—National Scleroderma Awareness Week, 1988

Scleroderma, which literally means "hard skin," is a painful and debilitating connective tissue disease characterized by excessive deposits of collagen in the skin. The hallmark of this disease is skin thickening, but scleroderma can also involve other organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart, or kidneys. The disease can begin at any age, but it usually affects people in their most productive years, and women more frequently than men.

New research findings and new approaches to diagnosis and treatment are being developed to combat scleroderma. Research studies on scleroderma include investigations of various causes of the disease, research on vascular alterations, research on regulation of collagen synthesis, and development of diagnostic probes. Such fundamental research may lead to new and improved treatment strategies that will effectively attack the disease itself.

If this work is to continue and we are to take advantage of knowledge already gained, public awareness about scleroderma and about continuing scientific research is crucial. Private voluntary organizations and the Federal government are working together to achieve this goal.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 266, has designated the week beginning June 12, 1988, as "National Scleroderma Awareness Week" and has 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 beginning June 12, 1988, as National Scleroderma Awareness Week, and I call upon 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 sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN